


Watercolor

by Jett



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Boys are boys, Don't be turned off by the Levi/Petra, F/F, F/M, Levi is trapped in the closet, M/M, Some slight relationship abuse, Somehow this has become some angsty underground fighting ring AU, There could be infinitely more pairings, nothing super graphic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-19
Updated: 2014-07-26
Packaged: 2017-12-29 20:22:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 52,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1009677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jett/pseuds/Jett
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren Jaeger is just a kid in college who is working towards his Bachelor's of Fine Arts with a focus on Painting. He paints his happiness, his pain, and his very soul onto his paintings even though he may not look the part. He befriends a certain guy in his class and the two become reluctant friends.</p><p>A.K.A Levi doesn't know he's gay so Eren drags him out of the closet</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Class

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This is my very first SNK fic, so bear with me if characters are OOC or whatever.  
> Eren won't meet Levi until the next chapter so bear with me. Also, I'm horrible at summaries so please don't let that sway you on whether or not to read this. The rating will probably change once we get to the smutty areas, but that won't be for a while. Sorry
> 
> Also, this story will become less and less about the painting and more and more about the relationships.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

No, not yet. 

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

No, please. 

_BEEP. BEEP. BEEP._

“Godammit!” Eren roared as he swiped the offending alarm clock off the rickety side table. It flew across the room and slammed up against the wall. Somehow, it was still beeping. He flung the covers back, stomped over, picked up the clock, and shut it off before dropping it back onto the floor. Sitting on the edge of his bed, he rubbed his face with his hands in a vain attempt to try and wake himself up. 

He nearly screamed when the door flung open and Mikasa sauntered in without warning. 

“Eren! Time to wake up for class, oh sorry I didn’t think you’d already be up.” 

“What if I was naked, Mikasa? Huh?” He asked angrily. 

She brushed it off with a wave of her hand. 

“Nothing I haven’t seen before, trust me.”

Eren made a disgusted face and shoved his sister out of the room before slamming the door. He trudged over to his closet and grabbed the first pair of black jeans that he saw and a short-sleeved dark brown button-up. The smell of eggs and bacon wafted around the cracks between the door and its frame, forcing Eren to hustle out to the kitchen before Armin ate it all. Sure enough, by the time he walked down the hall and made an appearance, Armin was stuffing his face full of Mikasa’s cheesy scrambled eggs. 

“Gut mornig, Ewen,” he exclaimed cheerfully while spewing food all over the cheap wooden table. 

“Ew, Armin. Good morning. Ready for class?” 

“You betcha!” 

No one should ever be this excited this early. 

Eren sat down as Mikasa set a plate down in front of him. He grinned his thanks at her and dug in. Mikasa joined them after she had made up her own plate and the three enjoyed some small talk and schedule comparisons before they had to leave for the morning’s classes. 

“Okay, boys, time to get going.” Mikasa stood, grabbed all three plates, and tossed them in the sink as Eren and Armin followed behind her. Eren held the door open for them and locked it on their way out to their first week of classes. 

They lived fairly close to campus, so it wasn’t too terrible of a walk to get there. When they reached the first few buildings, Mikasa turned and said her goodbyes as she headed towards her Biology class. Armin and Eren had World History first, something that Eren absolutely hated and Armin was freakishly passionate about. 

They walked into the huge auditorium and Eren started to pull Armin toward the back (actually, the very last row) but Armin had other plans. He grabbed Eren’s wrist and nodded down toward the front. Eren groaned and followed Armin as his friend practically skipped to the front of the room. Armin plopped down into a seat next to a pretty strawberry blonde girl and gave her a huge smile that she returned with equal fervor. 

“Hi! I’m Petra!” 

“I’m Armin, and this is my friend, Eren!” Armin jerked a thumb over to Eren, who gave a half-assed wave. She smiled over at him, too, and then proceeded to ask Armin a slew of questions regarding his major and schedule that had Eren tuning out within seconds. Eren looked around the room at the other students in this entry-level, completely mandatory, absolutely bullshit class. A girl with long brown hair that was pulled back was snarfing down a behemoth breakfast wrap. Good god how was she even breathing?! She ate in stark contrast to Armin, Eren noticed: she made sure every single crumb of that wrap made it into her mouth; nothing was wasted. He shook his head and looked at a guy with a crew-cut that was sitting next to the girl. This dude didn’t even look fazed by the amount of food the girl was stuffing her face with. Eren must have stared for too long, because the guy looked at Eren and shrugged as if saying ‘It’s how she eats and I can’t do anything about it.’ 

Eren nodded at the guy and was forced to look back at the front when the professor came in and began class. The professor began reading the syllabus verbatim and Eren knew from this prof’s monotonous voice that this was going to be one long ass semester.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Classes ended and Eren waved goodbye to Armin and Armin’s friend, Petra. They trotted off together toward who-knows-what because Eren knew Armin had free time. So bizarre because Armin was typically extremely shy and closed off toward people he didn’t know, and Mikasa and Eren were the ones who would introduce people and help him get acquainted. 

_Guess he’s decided to be more open in college._ He thought. 

Eren headed toward his next class, which wasn’t really a class. It was a Watercolor Studio. Ever since he was little, Eren loved to paint. His mother had been an accomplished painter who probably could have gone on to fantastic things if it weren’t for her Type-A personality husband who insisted that it was simply a pastime that ended up making the house look prettier. She was supposed to be the model wife, who cared for her kids and attended whatever events he decided for them. So she complied and made appearances at various fundraisers, cleaned the house and cooked fantastic dinners, and generally followed whatever commands were given to her without complaint. She hardly ever sat down to paint except when Eren had showed an interest. 

When Eren turned six, his paintings went from goofy finger paintings to things that actually resembled other things. The shapes on his drawings weren’t just blobs or hilarious stick figures of his family; you could actually tell what things were and notice his eye for color. That’s what Eren loved the most about art, the infinite way that you could mix colors and come up with better, deeper, more exotic colors. Sometimes, he mixed colors and they turned out a muddy brown color, but that was okay too, because he would just paint trees and horses and rows of houses with thatched roofs of the same mud color but highlighted with yellow. 

He loved watercolors especially because the colors bled into other colors, and that made his paintings look even brighter and more alive. Carla Jaeger had fostered a love for colors in her son at an early age, because her life was so stark and devoid of creativity and freedom. Eren’s father, however, had turned his nose up at Eren’s talent and had deemed it totally useless. 

When Mikasa was adopted, she too encouraged Eren’s love for art by hanging up all of his paintings on her wall until they were covered in every landscape possible. There were roiling oceans with waves breaking so fiercely on the nearby jutting cliffs that it seemed they would be eroded away. There was one that depicted a huge green field and a girl holding a flower near her face with a huge grin and eyes so alive they seemed to be dancing. Mikasa’s favorite one, though, was one Eren had done of their mother right before she had died. It showed Carla Jaeger in a way that seemed Eren had taken a picture and then painted it from reference. She seemed mid-turn, with a small smile on her face as though she knew she was being painted. Her hair was loosely braided and thrown over her shoulder, and her shoulders were back and relaxed, as if her life was so carefree that she needn’t have worried about a single thing. Eren couldn’t even stand to look it at anymore because he had painted her so vividly that it made his chest hurt. 

Eren opened the door to the studio timidly, as if expecting someone to question why he was there. A few students had trickled in, but it was nowhere near full. He looked around and sat down on the nearest stool, keeping his bag underneath. A girl with shoulder-length blonde hair was sitting next to him. She had a full sleeve of tattoos on one arm and when she turned her head, Eren noticed that one side of her head was shaved short. The girl gave him a look of indifference and he cleared his throat.

“Uh, I’m Eren.” 

“Annie.” She said in reply before turning her head back toward the center of the room. Eren felt incredibly awkward after that, and refrained from looking at anyone else. Suddenly, the door opened and Eren could’ve vomited at the sight of the person walking through. 


	2. Graphite=Death

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I used a decent amount of four-letter words in this so...yeah. I'll expand into the Eren/Reiner creepiness next chapter. Thanks for the Kudos!

Jean.

Jean Kirschstein.

Jean. Fucking. Kirschstein.

“Oh god.” He groaned before he could control it. Jean snapped his head over to look at Eren and his face must’ve matched Eren’s because he groaned, too.

“Like I needed any other bullshit in my life.” Jean commented. A freckled boy with dark hair followed Jean in and gave Eren a friendly smile before tottering along behind Jean. They sat in two seats opposite Eren and Jean continued to give dirty looks to Eren. It was really starting to piss Eren off that this horse-faced douchebag was in his Watercolor class. This was supposed to be Eren’s favorite class, but now a horse had cantered through and absolutely _ruined it_.

Eren was about to comment on how much Jean needed to make an exit before he beat his ass, but the door shut and a tall woman with brown hair and thick, gray-rimmed glasses smiled at the whole class.

“Good morning, everyone!”

She got a gaggle of mumbles from everyone, but nothing enthusiastic.

“I said ‘GOOD MORNING, EVERYONE!’” She screamed at the top of her lungs.

“Damn it, Hanji. It’s too early for this shit.” A voice growled from the back of the room.

Everyone looked toward the guy that had said it. He was a pissy looking guy with dark hair that was undercut, with the long hair on top fluffed up and brushed back. He looked like he had eyeliner on but Eren couldn’t really tell because the light was casting shadows on his face. He wore a dark t-shirt and dark pants and he was glaring so scarily at this Hanji woman that Eren sort of feared for her life. She smiled brightly back at him and in return he sunk lower into his seat and sighed heavily.

“Levi! I forgot you were in this class! Oh my gosh, we’re going to have SO much fun!”

She clapped her hands together and looked around at the rest of the class.

“I’m Hanji and this is Watercolor 207! Levi here is one of my _best friends_ and he is both taking the class and a teaching assistant of sorts. So, if you have questions and I’m unavailable to answer them, just ask him.”

Yeah, right. It looked like he sneered at the very thought of people asking him questions.

“Now! Let’s go around and introduce ourselves!” She pointed to Eren and he nearly puked at the thought of speaking in front of these people. What was he supposed to say? Just his name? His age? His life story? No one had gone before him and he felt like he was going to pass out from the pressure of introducing himself to this group of like ten, maybe eleven people.

 _God, Eren, get it together. Tell them your name. Just say your name and that will be fine. You will be fine._ He thought, panicked.

“Uh, I’m Eren Jaeger.”

“What’s your major, Eren?”

“Bachelor of Fine Arts, focus on Painting.”

“Great!”

She went around the room and everyone introduced themselves in turn. Annie, majoring in fashion design but wanted to take this class as a means to expand her sketch range and portfolio overall. Bertholdt, majoring in Industrial Design and taking this class because it was a requirement. She went down the line until she got to Levi. He looked at her with a completely bored look on his face.

“I’m Levi.”

“What’s your major?”

“No.”

She laughed at that and shook her head while pointing to the next person. Marco, an Art History major who loved painting. Eren brightened at that but shut off his expression when he saw Levi look over at him. Jean was next anyway, so Eren didn’t have too much to be happy about.

“I’m Jean Kirschstein. I’m working towards an Industrial Design degree but I needed a painting class and Marco was taking this one.”

Eren would’ve scoffed and made some obscene remark just to rile Jean up the way Jean used to do to him in high school, but a vibration from his phone interrupted him and made him pull it the tiniest bit out of his pocket to check who it was.

>When do you get out of class?

Fuck, it was Reiner.

Eren felt his heart leap into his throat and he tried extremely hard to not let his face betray how nervous he was. He waited until Hanji turned away and then typed a lightning-fast response.

>Later.

Miliseconds after he sent that, he received an answer that made him feel even sicker.

>Don’t you fuck with me, Eren. Tell me, now.

>Not sure, seriously! Maybe 1?

He shoved his phone away just in time for Hanji to look back and finish talking about whatever the hell she was talking about. She smiled brightly and everyone was nodding, so Eren quickly nodded too.

“Now, today we’re going to start by drawing out a beautiful landscape, just so I can get a feel for your abilities and your mind overall.” She ended this with a creepy note in her voice, and Eren felt a rock drop into his stomach.

For some unknown reason, no matter how well Eren could paint, he could not draw. His drawings were terrible. Absolutely terrible. He usually just bought paper or canvas or whatever the hell media he was using and then just tossed out whatever idea he had at the time. He never drew his ideas out first, he just went with whatever his brain decided to concoct and then painted it. Hanji handed out sheets of paper and then told everyone to get out graphite or inks and begin drawing. Eren turned shakily toward the small desk that he pulled up from the side of the stool and looked at the blank sheet of paper. His hands were shaking and his breathing quickened as his mind drew a blank on everything he had ever seen. What could he draw? What even existed? He couldn’t think of a single scene, landscape, person, object, anything to start on.

Hanji must have noticed this, because she walked over and put a hand on Eren’s shoulder.

“It can be anything, Eren. Any landscape at all. You can put anything you want into it.”

He nodded and pulled up his bag to grab a pencil. He hadn’t even bought really nice graphites or inks because it never even crossed his mind that normal people _draw their shit out before they paint it_. Holy shit.

With a stroke of his hand, Eren began a scene of a geyser erupting with birds flying overhead. He took a few deep breaths and told himself that everything was going to be alright, he was accepted into this school for a reason and he knew what he was doing. A stroke here, a movement of the hand there, and twenty minutes flew by when Hanji walked around and asked if everyone was mostly finished. Eren hadn’t even assessed his work yet, but when he drew himself out of the artist fervor he was in, he could’ve cried.

This was the ugliest thing he had ever seen.

It looked like a toddler had drawn it. A huge black and gray block was in the middle of the paper, with some shittily drawn birds on top and a line for the ground. He had some trees that he tried to depict as smoldering, but it just looked like sticks with blobs on them. He clutched the paper close to his chest as Hanji rounded the circle. She paused at Eren and glanced down at the paper he was holding onto for dear life.

“Eren, my dear. May I see your work?”

He almost shook his head like a defiant child, but decided that me might as well get this humiliation over with now and just explain that he was a better painter and- oh my god, people were laughing at him.

“What the hell is that, Jaeger?” Jean shouted after screaming with laughter.

“Shut up, fuckface, I’m a better painter than a drawer!”

“God, I could draw a horse’s asshole better than that!”

“Great, since you look like a fucking horse’s asshole!”

Jean stood up so fast that the stool fell over. Eren stood up too and was ready to brawl this out here and now, but Hanji shoved him back onto his stool and Marco dragged Jean back onto his.

“Eren, it’s okay if you aren’t the best drawer. We’ll get to painting later in the week.”

Eren turned and hid his face so that the rest of his class couldn’t see how embarrassed he was. Hanji handed Eren his paper back with a sad smile on her face as she moved on to Annie’s drawing of a mountain with snow and fog around it. Eren’s throat burned and he refused to look anyone in the eye. When Hanji had gone around the circle and looked at everyone’s work, she told the class that next time they would be working with paints and paper and that they were dismissed for now. Eren bolted up and out the door so fast that he barely heard Jean scream another insult at him.

Barely.


	3. Peppy girlfriend, Angry boyfriend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo a word of warning: there is relationship abuse/violence/degrading speech/whichever other warning this falls under. It's not super graphic, but it might be enough to make some people upset, which I don't want to do!

Eren flew out of the class and practically kicked the doors of the building open. His eyes were blurry and watery and burned so bad he thought they would melt right out of his head. He stopped to take a deep breath and calm himself down.

 _I am a good painter. I am a good painter. I am a good painter._ He repeated over and over. He imagined all the things he’d ever painted in his life, even letting his mind skim over the picture of his mother a little. Eren seemed to be mostly calm when he heard his name being called.

“Eren!”

He looked over and saw Reiner and almost started crying again. The man was looking at him with a serious look, and stared at him until Eren made his way over.

“Hey.”

“How was class? Is it mostly girls?”

“Yeah, Reiner, mostly girls.”

What a stupid lie. Eren wasn’t sure what he’d been thinking when he decided to say it, but now he was absolutely fucked because the doors were opening and out came the rest of the class. Of course, Jean Kirschstein was front and center and noticed Eren right away. A playful insult died on Jean’s lips as he spotted Reiner. He looked back and forth between Eren and Reiner and raised a meek hand to both before grabbing Marco and shoving him the other way, away from Eren and his scary boyfriend.

Eren had momentarily forgotten that Jean and Reiner had both gone to his high school. Reiner had simply followed Eren to the same college because they had begun dating their senior year of high school, and Reiner wanted to “make sure no one laid a hand on his bitch.” Eren cringed inwardly at remembering that turn of phrase.

“What the fuck is Jean Kirschstein doing in your _art class_?”

Reiner’s voice was dangerously low and Eren could barely muster up the bravery to speak.

“I didn’t know he was in the class until I got there today.”

“Well, you’re dropping the class, now.”

Eren’s heart sunk. Watercolor was his favorite way to paint, and now Reiner was taking that and crushing it under his boot. Literally now, since Reiner grabbed Eren’s bag and rummaged through it until he found a few pencils. He threw them on the ground stomped on them, breaking them.

“Reiner! I needed those! I’m not dropping the class, I need it for my major, it’s a required class.”

Reiner turned and looked at him incredulously.

“Did you just disobey me?” He grabbed Eren by the bicep and yanked Eren along toward Reiner’s car. Eren struggled to free himself and whimpered at how tight Reiner was holding his arm.

“Let go of me!”

“Shut up!” Reiner roared.

Eren decided to play along when he noticed people were staring at them. Reiner dragged him to the car and shoved Eren against it before moving his body to pin Eren.

“So, you want to be a mouthy bitch, again, or are you done?”

Eren looked down at his feet and pulled on a belt loop. He mumbled something that Reiner didn’t catch. Reiner grunted and Eren spoke up again.

“I said, I’m done.”

“Good, get in the fucking car.”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The ride back to Eren’s apartment was tense. Eren tried to keep his mind on how excited he had been for Watercolor class and the opportunity to paint, but he kept worrying about Reiner making him drop the class. When Reiner pulled up to the apartment, Eren hadn’t even noticed.

“Eren? Aren’t you going in?”

“Uh, yeah, sorry. Are you coming up?"

"No, I’ve got a, uh, group project I’ve got to work on. I’ll talk to you later.”

Eren nodded and made a move to get out of the car, but a strong hand on his forearm stopped him. He turned around and Reiner was right up in his face.

“Don’t forget to drop that class, Eren.”

“I can’t.”

Those two words. Those two little words were enough to send Reiner spiraling into a rage. He flung Eren out of the car and got out himself. Eren backed away from the car and scrambled to find his keys. Reiner was on him in a second, and grabbed him by the hair, pulling him up roughly to face Reiner. Eren yelped in pain, which made Reiner pull harder.

“You listen to me and you listen good. You. Will. Drop. That. Class.”

“Please, Reiner. I can’t, seriously. They will not let me. It is a required class.” Eren said slowly, trying extremely hard not to let any sass or sarcasm drip into his voice. A neutral voice was a safe voice.

Reiner was about to say or do something, but a car screeched into the parking lot and Mikasa practically dove out of the passenger side while Armin was driving.

“Get your fucking hands off my brother!” She screamed as she ran toward Reiner. He dropped Eren and made a dash for the car. Mikasa had never been able to get close enough to Reiner to beat his ass, but it was practically a guarantee that she could. He slammed the car door shut and pealed out of the parking lot, giving Mikasa the finger as he did. Armin parked the car and ran over to Eren to see if he was okay. Mikasa stood there watching the way that Reiner’s car went, in case he decided to come back.

“Eren! Are you alright? I saw you leaving with him so Mikasa and I ditched Composition class to make sure you were okay. I’m sure glad that we did, too.”

Eren tried to keep the tremble out of voice.

“You skipped class, Armin? Go back and tell the professor you guys got lost. I’m sure he won’t care. I’m fine.”

“No.”

Mikasa’s voice pierced the air, and Eren could see that she was shaking with rage.

“No, Eren. I thought that you broke up with that asshole three weeks ago. Why are you still seeing him?”

“Mikasa, I tried to. He uh… wouldn’t let me.” Eren ended meekly.

She inhaled sharply and picked up her backpack, which had been flung to the ground during the altercation.

“From now on, we’re following you to your classes. Maybe I can change my schedule around to match yours better. I thought you didn’t get out of that studio until two?”

“We got out early today.”

“Of course.”

The trio walked upstairs to their third floor apartment and unlocked the door. Eren, trying to lighten the mood, decided to talk about his class.

“Guess who’s in my studio, though? Jean Kirschstein.”

Armin tried to hold back a laugh while Mikasa spun around to look at Eren.

“Please tell me you didn’t try to fight him _in the studio_.”

“No, no!” Eren waved his hands back and forth. “I didn’t get the chance to. He said some dumb shit though, let me tell you.”

“That sounds crazy, Eren! Remember that girl from World History class this morning? Petra? Well she had class with me the rest of the day and we hit it off pretty well. I think I actually made a friend!”

“That’s great Armin!” Eren shouted excitedly. He really was proud of his best friend for having the balls to talk to someone he didn’t know and strike up a friendship with them.

“Yeah she has this boyfriend, Levi I think was his name, and apparently he’s really moody and dark and funny. She said I’d probably meet him tomorrow, so hopefully we can all be friends!”

“Wait, is this Levi in an art major?”

“Uh, I don’t remember, why?”

“Well, I had a guy named Levi in my studio, and he was moody too, but he didn’t seem the kind to have a peppy, cute girlfriend. So it probably wasn’t him.”

Armin shrugged his shoulders and Mikasa set down to making them lunch. Eren was glad he had diffused the situation away from his relationship with Reiner, but he wasn’t sure how long he could pull that off.

 


	4. Elementary Statistics

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I literally cannot stop writing this story. It's a problem.  
> Many four-letter words, and I'm not even sure why I put that as a warning at this point. I know this story is slow build but bear with me, there will be more Levi/Eren moments soon.

The next day, Mikasa, Armin, and Eren had nearly identical schedules. Armin and Eren had World History while Mikasa didn’t have class until later, when they all had Elementary Statistics. Eren could’ve literally died at the thought of having a college-level mathematics course, because he had barely scraped by in high school. Hopefully, Armin would be a whiz and be able to explain the basics to Eren, because there was no way Eren would’ve ever been able to understand them himself.

Mikasa insisted on accompanying Eren and Armin to their World History class and sitting in with them because it was an auditorium and no one would notice. She had refused to let Eren out of her sight since yesterday and it seemed she wouldn’t be letting up any time soon.

They walked together toward Trost Building, which housed all the large auditoriums for general-education classes. Armin opened the door and scanned around the room before grabbing Eren’s wrist again and hurdling down toward the front. Petra’s copper hair flashed under the lights and Eren realized that was where they were headed. Armin screeched Petra’s name and she turned around and greeted him just as enthusiastically.

“Petra! This is Eren’s sister, Mikasa. She’s sitting in on class today.”

Petra gave Mikasa a friendly wave, and Mikasa nodded in return. Mikasa turned around and scanned the room as though she was looking for someone.

“He’s not here, Mikasa.”

“You never know, Eren. He knows your schedule, maybe he’s doing the same thing I’m doing.”

Eren shook his head and sighed before sitting down and readying himself for the professor’s droning lecture.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After class, the three students headed toward a nearby café when Eren felt his phone vibrate. He knew who it was from.

>Drop the class today.

Eren turned to his sister and friend with the fakest smile he could manage.

“Hey guys, I just realized that I forgot something in the studio yesterday, I’m going to go grab it real quick. I’ll meet you later!”

He dashed away before they could say anything and made his way over to the Rose Studios. Eren wasn’t even sure if he’d be able to find Hanji since his watercolor class wasn’t today. He peeked into a few rooms but saw different professors teaching. He was about to give up when he heard a loud cackle above the general din in the hallways. Only one psychopath had that laugh. Eren peered into a studio that was mostly empty except for Hanji and someone she was talking to but who was hidden behind a canvas. He heard Hanji laugh again and then saw her pacing around the room with a small paintbrush. She was swinging the paintbrush around when Eren saw some paint fly towards him. He tried to dodge it, but it got all over his shirt.

“Eren! I didn’t see you there. Come in! Oh man, I got paint on you, I’m so sorry!”

She grabbed a damp paper towel and came at Eren, trying to dab at the red paint spot.

“I-it’s fine Hanji, really. I just want to talk to you about something.”

“Oh? Levi, leave.”

Eren turned to see Levi stand up from behind the canvas and give Hanji the evilest look imaginable.

“No! It’s fine, it’s nothing too serious. I just wanted to know if I could drop the class.”

Hanji stared at Eren for a second before letting out a bark of laughter.

“Is this because of that sketch you did yesterday? Really Eren, it wasn’t that bad, and I just know that you’re a good painter. I can sense it.”

“Well, either way, I want to drop it. I’m not that good and yesterday made me realize it.”

Eren couldn’t bear to look at Hanji in the eye while he was blatantly lying to her. Instead, he looked at the ground until he felt a cold stare that forced him to look up. Levi was staring at him with narrowed eyes as if he knew Eren was lying out his ass. He probably did know.

“Paint something right now.” Levi shot at Eren.

“What?”

“Yeah!” Hanji yelled and clapped her hands. “Here’s a sheet of paper and a few paint pots. Paint what you drew yesterday. I have a theory about your ability to blend colors that I want to see in person.”

“N-no way, I came here to drop this class, not convince you even more that I should be in it!”

“Wow, kid. Kind of cocky for someone so young.” Levi said with and arched brow.

“I didn’t mean that, I just-“

“Paint.” Hanji said forcefully, while shoving a paint brush into Eren’s hand.

He sighed and dropped his bag onto the floor. If they wanted him to paint, then he would paint.

After a quick scan of the colors Eren had at his disposal, he decided to start off with the geyser. He dipped his brush in a pale smoke color that almost looked white until it was put on the paper. It dried a few shades darker, like most watercolors ended up doing. Eren then added in a few strokes of slate toward the center where the water and steam would be the most condensed. He dotted the edges of the spray with yellow and white to make it look like the sun shone on it and where the steam met the sun he added small areas of rainbow to show that light was being refracted. He tried to imagine what the ground near the geyser would look like. It would probably be a little wet from the water, so he began with a light sand color and edged the hole where the geyser erupted from with a darker brown/bistre. He swirled his brush in the water to clean it and then began on the birds that soared above the scene. He painted them as white birds with little blue tips on their wings and tails; even though he was pretty sure no bird looked like that. The paper was so saturated with color that it was nearly twice as heavy, so Eren decided to stop and let it dry. He turned around and backed away from the painting. Hanji walked over to it and let out a small gasp before she chuckled.

“Oh, Eren. You’re definitely staying in this class.”

“Is it that bad?” Eren looked away and started to rethink everything he’d ever thought about himself over the years. His mother and Mikasa had always told him that he was a wonderful painter, but they were his family and they had to tell him nice things. Maybe he was a horrendous painter after all, and he’d spent his whole life striving toward a dream that would never be possible.

“Eren. Are you kidding me?! This is…amazing. That’s not even the right word for it. Spectacular, splendid, superb, supercalifragilistic-“

“Hanji. Let me see.” Levi stood up and walked over to the table. Glancing at the picture, he looked back up at Eren and then back down to the picture.

“It’s good. Really good.” He turned around and sat back down to his canvas.

“Wow, even Levi thinks it’s good Eren, and he thinks everyone is complete shit! Just wait until the rest of the class sees this! They’ll never make fun of you again!”

“No, Hanji. I need to drop this class. Please.”

She gave him an incredulous look before glancing over at Levi, who also had as much of an incredulous look as was possible on his emotionless face.

“But, why?” She was nearly pouting.

“I-I just do, okay.”

“Eren, you can’t. Even if I wanted to, I can’t let you drop it. It’s one of the core classes you have to take for your major. The College of Fine Arts won’t let you drop it.”

Eren nearly teared up at the thought of having to tell Reiner this. He nodded his head meekly and picked up his bag.

“Okay, thanks anyway Hanji. See you tomorrow.”

“Eren, it’ll be okay. You’ll do wonderful in this class, I promise.”

“Yeah.” He whispered in a strained attempt not to cry in front of his teacher and the scariest guy in class. He walked out the door as briskly as possible and nearly made it halfway down the hall before a tear rolled down his cheek.

His phone rang and he answered without looking at who it was.

“Eren! Did you get what you forgot in the studio? Mikasa’s super worried about you, are you okay?”

“Yeah, Armin I’m fine. I just got sidetracked by my teacher, she’s a little nuts. I’m on my way to Stats now, I’ll meet you out front.”

“Okay, we bought you a sandwich since you skipped lunch.”

“Okay, thanks.”

Perked up at the thought of a delicious sandwich, Eren headed off toward his Stats class. He met Mikasa and Armin out front, who handed him a roast beef sandwich with all kinds of different things on it and good lord if Eren didn’t sit down soon and eat it he’d drown everyone with the saliva his mouth had suddenly created.

Armin tried to drag them toward the front again, but Mikasa yanked them both toward the back, where she could keep an eye on things. Eren had momentarily forgotten that Reiner had this class with them. He immediately lost his appetite and scanned the room. Reiner walked in and set eyes on Eren, but hesitated when he saw Mikasa. Reiner looked like he was debating something, and then settled on sitting several rows ahead of them instead. He shot a glare back at them and whipped out his phone.

The door opened and Jean walked in with Marco trailing him. God, Reiner and Jean in the same class? Eren thought he would be just fine if lightning suddenly struck him dead. Jean saw the group of friends sitting and Mikasa quickly waved him over.

“Mikasa, what are you doing?” Eren hissed.

She ignored him and shockingly, Eren saw Jean comply and walk over to take a seat in front of Eren so that Jean could easily turn and talk to Mikasa.

“I see that your dick of a boyfriend is in this class too, Jaeger.”

Marco nudged Jean, who glanced over before opening his mouth again.

“I mean, look man, I know that it’s only gotten worse since high school, and I’m here for you. If anyone’s going to beat your ass, it’s me.”

Mikasa punched Jean in the arm and Marco sighed heavily at the thoughtlessness of his friend.

“God, I mean, I think the way you get treated is shit, and I’m down to help you if you can get past the fact that we hate each other.” Jean finished with a huff.

Eren didn’t know what to say. His high school rival, the bane of his existence, was offering to help him deal with the way Reiner treated him. Eren wasn’t even sure Jean was coherent at that point; it must have been the speech of a madman. A retort instantly formed in Eren’s mind, but Mikasa shut that down with one look.

“Eren, you need help. From whoever is going to offer it.”

“Yeah fine. I’d like that. The help, I mean.”

Mikasa and Armin grinned while Jean and Eren both looked totally put out.


	5. Breaking Down the Door

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a little bit of a longer chapter (compared to the other ones, at least). A little bit of violence in this one, so be prepared. Also, a little bit of Levi/Eren, and I'm so sorry that this story is going so slow but I want the build to be great and then the smut to be awesome and worth the wait. There will definitely be Levi in the next chapter. Lots of him, I do believe.

Eren walked out of class with a bounce in his step. Sure, math was terrible and he hadn’t understood a word of what the professor had said, but Reiner hadn’t been able to speak to him or get near him because of Jean and Mikasa. Marco had even tried to look intimidating too, though he ended up just smiling awkwardly. Armin talked animatedly to Eren while everyone glared at Reiner until he left the classroom. They then waited a few minutes and walked out of the class as a group. Jean and Marco waved goodbye and headed off in their own direction while Armin, Eren, and Mikasa started toward their apartment. Eren checked his phone and saw Reiner had sent him a hateful message.

>Just wait, Eren. Wait until your sister isn’t around.

Eren gulped and put his phone back in his pocket before Mikasa and Armin could notice. He asked if they could stop by the campus art supply store before they headed home, and his friend and sister agreed.

When they walked into the store, Eren about had a stroke at the various colors of paint, pastels, oils, and acrylics that were displayed on the walls. He grinned wildly and ran up and down the aisles like a child. After a few moments of self-indulgence, he headed over to the graphite section of the store, with Armin and Mikasa close behind. Eren rounded a corner and saw a short figure wearing all black. He looked familiar but Eren couldn’t tell who it was since the person had his head turned away. Man, this guy was short, too, and- oh god it was Levi.

“Levi! Hey.” Eren said sheepishly to try and hide his surprise.

“Hey. Getting supplies?”

“Yeah well Reiner crushed all my pencils yesterday so…” Eren trailed off when he realized what he’d just said.

“What kind of dickhead would do that?” Levi asked while looking back at the item in his hands.

He didn’t notice Armin snicker behind Eren’s back.

“Oh, well, you know, just a friend. Anyway, Levi, this is my sister Mikasa and my best friend, Armin.”

Mikasa nodded at Levi, who returned her indifferent nod with an even more disinterested one, but his eyes shot over to Armin when Eren said his name.

“Do you know a girl name Petra by chance?”

“Oh my gosh, yeah! She’s super nice! Are you the Levi she’s been telling me about?”

“Well, I hope so, since we’re dating and it’d be weird if she were dating two different guys named Levi. She won’t stop talking about the boy named Armin that she met. She’ll probably invite you out for lunch tomorrow, since she’s been blowing up my phone about it.”

Eren laughed at how bored Levi sounded when he felt his phone go off again. Damn it, Reiner was being extra obsessive today.

>Where are you?

Eren must not be very good at hiding his expressions, because Mikasa growled and snatched the phone out of Eren’s hand.

“What does this asshole want now? I can’t wait to tear him apart.”

“God, Mikasa, relax.”

“Eren, you really need to get rid of Reiner, seriously.” Armin chided.

“Is this the same guy who broke your pencils?” Levi asked.

Eren sighed and nodded embarrassedly. Levi shrugged it off.

“Sounds like a douche.”

Armin laughed out loud this time and Levi smirked at him before turning back to Eren.

“Well, it’s been fun but I’ve got to get going. See you tomorrow in studio, Eren.”

Levi went to leave but he saw the cashier and then spun back around.

“Eren, come here and I can get you a discount on the shit you buy right now.”

Eren looked blankly at Levi while Armin shoved him forward. The cashier was a huge behemoth of a guy that had blonde hair that was parted off to one side like some military general. He greeted Levi and the two bumped fists before he rang Levi up.

“Erwin, this is Eren. He’s in Hanji’s watercolor studio that she forced me to be in. He’s a real Winslow Homer.” Erwin’s eyes shot up at that statement and he looked at Levi and then at Eren and then back to Levi.

“What?”

“No, nothing, I’ve just never heard you compliment someone’s work before.” He turned toward Eren and held out his hand. “Eren, it’s nice to meet you. Maybe you can come hang out with us and Hanji if she doesn’t scare you too much. Usually she or Levi scares off anyone we try to invite to things, but you’ve already met them both and you actually got Levi to compliment you so you’re one step ahead of everyone else.” He finished brightly while Levi glared at him.

He rang up Eren’s purchases and magically pulled off 20% from the price with a single press of a button. Eren handed him the money and promised they would hang out sometime. Erwin waved at both men as they exited the store. Mikasa and Armin trailed behind and grinned to each other.

Levi turned when they got outside and started walking in the opposite direction that Eren, Mikasa, and Armin needed to.

“Bye Levi, see you tomorrow! Thanks for the deal on my stuff.”

He stuck a hand up and gave it a shake in a half-wave.

“See ya, kid. Nice to meet you both.” He gestured to Armin and Mikasa, who waved in return. When Levi had walked out of earshot, Armin giggled.

“Gosh, Eren, you should date someone like him instead of mean old Reiner.”

“Well, he’s straight Armin, so that will never be an option.” Eren spat back.

“Hmm I said someone _like_ him, Eren. Not him specifically. Besides, I wouldn’t be so sure.” Armin grinned.

Eren rolled his eyes and fought off a blush. He knew Levi was straight and he’d specifically mentioned Petra as being his girlfriend. If that wasn’t a clear signal, then Eren didn’t know what was.

The group headed back to their apartment and Eren seemed optimistic about his life for the first time in what felt like forever. He loved his classes (Elementary Statistics excluded), he had people who cared about him and he was continuing to make new friends every day, it seemed.  Sure, his bizarre relationship with Reiner was a constant needle in the back of his mind, but for now he chose to tune it out because how would Reiner ever get near him when Mikasa was around?

When they reached their apartment, Armin and Eren began a round on the Xbox while Mikasa looked over some biology texts. Eren’s phone rang in the middle of it and he grabbed it and answered without checking who was calling.

“Hello?”

“Tell your sister to back the fuck off before I kill her.” Reiner’s voice trickled over the phone in a tone so low Eren could barely hear it. His blood ran cold at the sentence and he couldn’t find it in himself to answer.

“You better have dropped that class today.”

“They wouldn’t let me.” Eren whispered while clutching the phone. Armin turned and shot a worried look at Eren. Mikasa had gone into her room to change so she hadn’t heard the current conversation.

“Oh. Well, in that case, you’d better come outside and explain to me in person exactly what happened. Don’t bring that cunt of a sister with you, either. I’ll kill all three of you if you do.”

Eren gulped and wondered what he should do. Mikasa would definitely insist that he remain in the safety of their apartment, but all Eren could imagine in his mind was Reiner squeezing the life out of Armin’s tiny body or beating Mikasa until she was unrecognizable. He was trembling at the thought and Armin laid a hand on his arm in worry.

“No.”

The line went dead and a heavy thump came from the front door. Eren threw his phone across the room and grabbed Armin by the shoulders, wrenching him up off the ground and flinging himself in front of his friend. A loud bang sounded against the door, and Eren watched as the hinge began to separate from the door. Armin yelped when another crash sounded and Mikasa flew out of her room with widened eyes.

“What the hell is going on, Eren?”

“Reiner.” Eren could barely manage to say it. A flash of fear shone in Mikasa’s eyes before she got it under control and ran into the kitchen. She grabbed an enormous cleaver from the cherry wood knife block and walked back in front of Eren. The top hinge eventually gave, and the door swung inward. Reiner’s face appeared and Eren nearly screamed at the look on his face. He could hear his neighbors yelling at Reiner and threatening to call the cops, and Eren hoped that someone had the sense to do so.

“Get out, Reiner.” Mikasa said evenly, holding the cleaver in front of her.

“You gonna cut me, bitch? Give me Eren and I’ll leave.”

Eren knew this was all because of him. Their junior year of high school, Eren had officially come out to all his friends, who had all accepted him. Reiner, in particular had _really_ accepted him. So much so, that he asked Eren out a week later. At first, Reiner had been so sweet to Eren. They had gone out on dates and Reiner had been his first everything and it had all been so cute until the day Eren cancelled plans with Reiner to go out with Armin instead.

 

**_**Flashback**_ **

_“So, what, are you like fucking him now?”_

_“What? No! Armin is my best friend and I haven’t hung out with him in a while because you and I have been hanging out so much. I miss him.”_

_Eren immediately knew it was the wrong thing to say._

_“You miss him.”_

_Reiner slammed his fist against the locker near Eren’s head and Eren flinched away. He screamed in Eren’s face and insisted that they hang out. Eren nodded meekly and Reiner walked away with one last punch of the locker. As he walked away, Eren’s eyes glistened with unshed tears and he found himself wondering where his nice, innocent boyfriend had gone._

 

****

Eren shoved Mikasa aside and walked toward the door. He was ready to end this once and for all, and if that meant the end of his life in order to preserve the lives of those he loved, then so be it. Armin screamed his name and Mikasa grunted when he shoved her. Reiner grinned maniacally when he saw Eren approach.

“Good boy, come here. I won’t hurt you.”

Eren knew that it would be the exact opposite. The second he was within reach, Reiner grabbed him and yanked him out of the apartment. He slammed Eren against the wall in the hallway and punched him in the eye. Reiner’s fist was so big that Eren felt his nose crack when the punch connected. He screamed in pain and the sound must have jolted Mikasa into action. She leapt up and jumped over the broken door. Reiner looked up just in time for Mikasa to take a swing at him with her fist first and then the cleaver when the first attempt didn’t connect. He backed away from both and whipped his head around when he heard sirens nearing the complex. He growled at Mikasa and grabbed Eren by the collar.

“I’ll be back for you, Eren, don’t you worry.”

With that, he dashed down the stairs and somehow managed to avoid the police. The officers walked upstairs and saw Eren, then offered to call an ambulance.

“No, please, we can’t afford it!” Eren said thickly through the blood and tears streaming down his face. The officers nodded understandingly and turned toward to Mikasa, who gave them the full story quickly. She described Reiner for them and they suggested that Eren stay home from class for the next few days. Eren frantically declined and told Armin that he just wanted to drive to the hospital so that he could get his nose reset.

The landlord pushed through the group of people and shooed most of them back to their apartments. He looked at Eren and gave him a sad smile.

“I’m really sorry about the door, Mr. Pixis. You can add it onto our rent this month.”

“Nonsense, Eren. I needed to change the doors in this place anyway; you’ve just given me a starting point. You need to go to the hospital though and get that nose fixed. I’ll stay in your apartment to make sure no one goes in and takes anything.”

Mikasa thanked him and ushered Eren out into the car. She drove the three of them to the nearby hospital and they walked into the lobby of the Emergency Room. Eren checked in with the receptionist and then sat down to wait. His nose and the cut above his eye weren’t actively bleeding anymore, but he could feel both swelling a little bit. A nurse came out with an ice pack and told him it might be a while because the victims in a multi-car pile-up had just been flown in and they were all mostly in critical condition. Eren nodded and settled in with a magazine and some meek conversation with Armin. Mikasa was disturbingly silent the whole time.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She wasn’t kidding, they waited for three hours before being called back into a small room with a curtain. The nurse got a quick history from Eren and then went to take his vitals. While in the process of inflating the blood pressure cuff, she looked right into Eren’s eyes.

“Eren, is someone hurting you?”

He gulped and shook his head, but he knew that she didn’t believe him. She smiled and finished taking the vitals. She told Eren that the doctor would be in shortly and then handed Eren a new bag of ice.

The doctor came in about an hour later with a kit for stitching wounds and Eren sighed heavily.

“I know, Eren, but it will make your cut close up better and prevent scar formation. It’ll only be a few stitches.”

He sat to work knitting the edges of the cut together and Eren started to relax. When the doctor was finished, he looked at Eren’s nose and made small talk while running his fingers over it. As Eren was letting out a chuckle, the doctor quickly reset Eren’s nose. Eren screamed in pain and Mikasa nearly tore through the curtain to get into the room. The doctor apologized but said that it was the most stress-free way to handle broken noses. He told Eren that it would swell and bruise and continue to look worse for a few days and then wrote a prescription for painkillers and discharged Eren. Mikasa carried a sleepy Armin to the car and Eren followed behind tiredly.

By the time they got home, it was nearly 4:30 in the morning. Armin trudged into bed, and Eren followed suit. Mikasa thanked Mr. Pixis and then proceeded to sleep on the couch with the cleaver behind her pillow. Eren knew she probably wouldn’t sleep that night, and he wasn’t sure he would either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If there are grammar or spelling errors, please alert me.


	6. White House

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. I have this whole personality headcanon for Levi that is a little different from his generally accepted/written personality. You'll see what I mean in this chapter and especially in the next few chapters. It's nothing that's going to piss you off, but it might seem weird at first. Just trust me, you'll love it (I hope).  
> Also, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE COMMENTS AND BOOKMARKS AND THE GENERAL LOVE. I get these notifications about it in public and I make a scene with how excited I am! Thank you all!

The next morning was brutal.

Eren’s whole right eye was black and purple and his nose was a little bruised, too. The cut above his eye was angry and red and he felt like shit from the lack of sleep. He dreaded going to class and had conflicted feelings about studio. He was looking forward to painting, but not the looks that people were surely going to give him.

The three of them could barely eat breakfast, and Armin kept dozing off and almost falling into his cereal bowl. When it was time to go, Mikasa had to say it three times before both boys realized what she was actually saying. They trekked off to campus and parted ways for the first class. Mikasa had Biology again and the boys both had World History like they did every day. Armin looked for Petra and dragged Eren down to sit near her, again.

“Hey Armin! Eren!”

They both raised a hand in greeting and Armin explained that both had been up late last night and were exhausted. Petra looked at Eren’s eye, but didn’t say anything and just smiled brightly. He wanted to be thankful that she didn’t comment on it, but she was being so perky and happy that Eren couldn’t help but be annoyed. He spent World History trying not to pass out and preventing Armin from doing the same.

Once History was over, Eren agreed with Armin that they’d meet outside Eren’s studio class when it was over. Eren trudged to Rose Studios and walked down the hall to his room. A hand landed on his shoulder and he nearly screamed, but stopped when he realized it was Jean.

“Christ, Eren, what the fuck happened to you?”

Eren gave him a knowing look and Jean grimaced.

“Did you call the cops?”

“Yeah, he ran before they got there. He broke down the door to our apartment though, and I spent all last night in the ER getting stitches.”

Eren said the last part as they were entering the studio, and he heard voices quiet down as they heard it. He cursed silently to himself and glared at everyone who looked at his eye. They all eventually looked away, except Hanji and Levi. Hanji had a shocked look on her face and Levi looked completely and utterly…bored.

“Eren! What happened to your face?”

“Yeah, hey to you too, Hanji.”

“No, I mean really, your face looks awful-“

“Eh, Hanji.”

She turned to look at Levi and he stared at her and gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head. Hanji turned to look back at Eren and then sighed before gesturing to his seat. Eren sat down and Hanji clapped her hands to begin class. Today they would be painting the sketches they had drawn last class. Eren, of course would have to create a new image, but he didn’t really mind.

Everyone began talking animatedly about what they were going to paint and how they planned on doing it. Eren turned around and grabbed a sheet of paper (they hadn’t used canvas yet because Hanji wanted to make sure everyone knew what they were doing before it was wasted). He began painting a large white house that had a slate colored roof. Two tall chimneys sprang forth from the right side, and two more on the left. While he waited for that to dry, Eren began painting the sky in a cornflower blue with wisps of smoke and darker gray as if a storm were approaching. The ground was tinted a pale olive green with streaks of brown and gray to resemble stones and patches of bare earth. When the house was mostly dry, he added a small oval door and an open window, both black in shadow. The paper was nearly saturated with paint, and Eren was forced to stop before he ripped the paper. Hanji approached and grinned when she saw what he had finished.

“Wow, Eren, it’s even better than yesterday’s!”

She called the class over and forced them all to look at the painting. Most people clapped Eren on the back and told him how great it looked. Jean made a shocked face, but Eren knew it was just a joke, since he and Jean had been in art classes together all throughout high school. Eren punched him in the arm and told him to quit being an assface. Levi looked at the picture and then up at Eren.

“You don’t look like an artist, yet here you are.”

He turned around and Hanji’s jaw fell to the floor. After a few seconds, she picked it up and walked behind Eren, putting her mouth near his ear.

“Two compliments in two days, call the Guinness Book of World Records.”

Eren laughed at that and looked over at Levi, who was scowling at Hanji with a menacing glint in his eyes. Hanji giggled and took Eren’s painting over to the drying rack. The class went on and continued painting while Eren received worried looks from Marco and Jean. Jean quickly finished his painting of a forest and then ran over to Eren.

“So did Mikasa beat his ass?”

“I don’t want to talk about this right now,” Eren hissed back.

Jean made a face and then realized that people had stopped talking to listen. He growled and walked back over to Marco, who put a hand on Jean’s shoulder to calm him down. He mouth “later” to Eren and then began a conversation with Bertholdt next to them.

As everyone finished up their paintings, Hanji rounded them up and dismissed them from class after telling them to get ready for portraits on Friday. Everyone trickled out of the classroom as Eren gathered his things. Hanji said something to Levi and then walked back over and sat next to Eren.

“So, Eren, what’re you doing later?”

“Uh, nothing really. I’d planned on going back home and nursing this shiner a little more, but my schedule’s pretty open.”

“Well, in that case… you better come hang out with us tonight! We’re all going to this bar nearby and you are more than welcome to join!”

“Uh, I’m only 19-“

“We know people, Eren. Don’t worry, you can bring friends, too, if that makes you feel more comfortable.”

“Yeah but don’t bother bringing whoever socked you in the eye.” Levi stated flatly.

Hanji clicked her tongue at that and then smiled brightly at Eren.

“See you at seven?”

“Yeah I guess. Where?”

“Levi will send you directions.” She pulled out a small piece of paper and scribbled a number on it, then handed it to Eren.

“Oi, Hanji, quit giving out my number to every single person you meet.”

Eren looked over to Levi, who seemed pretty annoyed. Eren was about to crumple up the paper and throw it away when he heard Levi’s voice.

“I’ll send you the directions later, just let me know when you’re ready for them.” He looked pointedly over at Eren. Eren nodded and put the number into his phone under “Grouch.”

Jean and Marco had been waiting for Eren, and Hanji sent them off with a wave of her hand.

“Eren, tell me what happened.”

“God, you are so nosy sometimes,” Eren teased. Marco chuckled and Jean huffed indignantly.

“Look, Mikasa threatened me within an inch of my life and I’m just trying to help you out, okay? It’s not my fault that you’re a stubborn asswipe who can’t see what other people do for him on a daily basis.”

“What?! I notice what everyone does for me, I just can’t stand the thought of you being nice to me because you spent all of high school riling me up and getting me in trouble!”

“Well that was before you got a boyfriend and you became a total pussy!”

Eren lunged at Jean, but was stopped by an arm in the stomach. Marco grabbed Jean and shoved him away before giving Eren an apologetic look. He dragged Jean out the door and left Eren fuming. Eren looked over to see Levi standing next to him.

“Why’d you stop me?!”

“Why are you trying to hurt people when you know what it feels like to get hurt?” He shot back bluntly.

Eren flushed embarrassedly and looked down at the ground.

“Jean’s an asshole.”

“I think he’s trying to help you, brat. You both are just complete shitheads who only know how to fight with each other. Show some gratitude; you were in the wrong this time.”

Levi walked back into the classroom and then came back out with his black messenger bag.

“Come on, kid. I’ll walk you out.”

“Why?”

“Because apparently somebody’s got it out for you, and I’m not too sure that you should be going around by yourself.”

“Yeah,” Eren scoffed. “Like you’d be able to do anything.”

Levi turned around and kicked a door so hard it slammed into the wall, the glass window shattering into tiny pieces. He looked back at Eren, who had flinched back at the sound. Eren was reminded of yesterday, how Reiner had rammed his body so hard into their front door that he’d broken it off of the hinges. Eren’s heart started beating rapidly, his breathing quickened, and his hands began shaking.

“Eren?”

Eren shook his head and tried to block the thoughts of last night. Levi was not Reiner, otherwise he would’ve demonstrated his strength by punching Eren in the face. Eren repeated this to himself a few times before he felt calm.

“Uh, okay, I get it, let’s go.”

Levi watched him walk away before trailing behind, deep in thought. They got outside and Levi held the door open for Eren who saw Armin standing out front. Armin flew over to Eren with a look of relief all over his face.

“Eren! Gosh, I thought maybe I didn’t get here in time and Mikasa had to stay late and… hey, Levi.”

“Armin. Well, Eren I guess I’ll see you later.” Levi started to walk away, but felt a tug on his sleeve. He turned to see Eren look sheepishly at him and then the ground.

“Uh, could you walk with us to the car since Mikasa isn’t here? Armin isn’t a very good fighter and… you know what, never mind.” Eren spun Armin around and began walking toward the car with a tint to his cheeks. Levi probably thought he was a clingy wuss and Eren could not be more embarrassed at his outburst. Armin looked at him questioningly but decided not to say anything. They got about two steps before they heard footsteps. Eren looked over his shoulder to see Levi following them.

“W-what are you doing?”

“What the fuck does it look like I’m doing? I’m walking you two to your car like you asked, moron.” Levi shook his head like he couldn’t believe how dumb Eren was. Armin tried to suppress his laughter, but a giggle escaped and Eren glared at him.

The group walked in silence until they reached the car. Armin unlocked the driver’s side door while Eren turned to Levi.

“Thanks.”

“Any time. I’ll send you those directions later, we’ll probably get there around 8 even though Hanji said seven.”

“Who’s all going?”

“Hanji, Erwin, from the art store, me, Petra, you, whoever the hell you bring, et cetera et cetera. Armin, you coming?”

“Yeah he’s coming. I’ll bring Mikasa too; she needs a few drinks for sure.”

Armin laughed at that and got into the car with a wave to Levi.

“Well, see you later then, Eren.”

“Yeah. Bye Levi. Thanks again, and uh, thanks for not being weird about me being weird.”

Levi snorted. Eren found himself not wanting to get in the car and leave. He looked at Levi who looked back at him with a blank look. They stared at each other until Levi broke the silence.

“So, are you going to get in the car, or what?”

“Uh, yeah, yeah. See you later.”

Eren opened the door so fast he knocked himself in the shoulder with the edge of the door. He grunted in pain but proceeded to fly into the seat and slam the door. Armin laughed silently and started pulling out of the parking lot. Eren looked back at Levi to see him with his head thrown back and shoulders shaking with laughter.

“Eren do you like him?”

“No, he’s just so weird. Like, he’s a complete dick to his friends and then he’s nice as fuck to us. It makes no sense.”

Armin turned his head away from Eren and grinned. Tonight was going to be very interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check it out, I don't have anyone to proofread this besides myself, so please please please let me know if there are errors/misspellings/other miscellaneous bullshit.  
> I promise the next chapter will be longer. I have this problem with writing short chapters and I don't know why. I just find these good places to stop and I don't know what to do.


	7. The Three Sisters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check it out, this is the longest chapter I've ever written for any fanfic EVER. Ever.
> 
> Also, I realized that I've only progressed through two and a half days so far and wow I'm going so slowly through this that it's killing me. I have an updating problem where I'm cursed to update nearly everyday.
> 
> There's some Levi/Eren fluff (I guess?) but it's mostly just "dat ereri slow burn." Hahaha I died at that, btw Trick_Fantasy.  
> Anyway, enjoy!

“Eren, it’s seven o’clock, start getting ready for this shindig!”

Oh, fuck. Eren had forgotten all about it.

Not.

He couldn’t _stop_ thinking about it. He’d been ready for the past two hours. Three outfits later, he had finally just decided to wear dark jeans and a t-shirt because he had no clue what else to wear.

What should he do with his hair?

As he was trying to decide, Armin burst through the door. He took one look at Eren and sighed.

“Is that what you’re wearing?”

“What the hell is _that_ supposed to mean?”

“I mean you look like a little boy.”

“Look who’s talking!”

Armin shook his head and went through Eren’s closet. He snatched a dark gray and black plaid button-up. Eren pulled his t-shirt over his head with a groan and then put on the shirt Armin handed him. Armin loosely tucked in half the back and then unbuttoned the first two buttons.

“Now you look like a college student. Text Levi and get directions so we can get a move on.”

Eren rolled his eyes and grabbed his phone. He gripped it so hard he thought it would snap in half. His fingers tapped out a message and then promptly deleted it. He did this eight more times.

 _Damn it why can’t I just send a damn text!_ He thought anxiously.

>Hey Levi, it’s Eren. Is this the right number?

Eren hit send and waited for the response. It seemed like minutes turned into hours and he began to panic. What if it was an elaborate joke set up by both Hanji and Levi to make him look completely stupid? His frantic thoughts were interrupted by a ding from his phone.

>No.

Eren’s heart sunk down to his ankles. Levi and Hanji didn’t like him at all. They’d just been playing pranks on him for their own entertainment. He typed out a feeble response and hit send.

>Okay, sorry.

His phone immediately dinged again.

>Eren. You need to learn how to take a joke. We’re going to The Three Sisters. It’s near the studios but you keep going south for a few blocks and then take a right on Sina St. You’ll see it; it’s got three huge faces on the front. Let me know if you get lost, we’re leaving now.

Eren yelled in outrage. Armin came flying into the room and laughed when Eren showed him the conversation. He grabbed Eren’s wrist and dragged him out the door with Mikasa. They headed out toward Rose Studios on campus and then continued past it toward the bar. They walked south and turned after two blocks. A black alleyway loomed ahead of them. Mikasa looked back at Eren and gave him a questioning look. Eren put his hand in front of Armin to prevent him from going further into the alley. He pulled out his phone and began to type out a text when his phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Where are you guys?”

“Oh, hey Levi. Uh, we’re facing some weird dark alley that I’m positive is not where we’re supposed to be.”

“Shit! Don’t go down it!” Levi’s voice sounded faint, as if he was holding it away while moving. Suddenly they heard footsteps behind them and turned around to him running toward them. Levi snatched Eren’s arm and pulled him away from the alley. He swung Eren around and glared at him with an intensity Eren had never seen.

“Never go down there. Why are you over here?”

“You said turn a few blocks after the studios.”

“I said turn on Sina Street. This is not it.” His voice was icy. Eren found himself cowering a little from the anger in Levi’s voice. Images of Reiner punishing Eren for little mistakes popped into his head and his breathing hitched as he choked out an apology.

Mikasa saw this and growled, but Armin prevented her from doing anything with a hand laid on her arm and a pleading look. Levi looked at Mikasa questioningly and then back to Eren. He released Eren’s arm and took a step back when he saw the fear in Eren’s face.

“Sorry, I just… don’t ever go down there.”

Eren nodded and gestured for Levi to lead them on to the right destination. They headed another street south and then turned onto Sina. The Three Sisters loomed ahead, with a huge group of college kids standing outside smoking. A bouncer stood out front checking IDs and Eren began to panic. As they approached, Eren was convinced that this guy was going to take one look at him and his friends and tell them to get the hell out.

“Hey, Erd.”

“Levi! I just saw Petra go in, why weren’t you with her?”

“I had to go collect these idiots. This is Eren, Mikasa, and Armin.”

Erd nodded to them and grinned at Levi. He muttered a thank you and then led the group inside. He continued walking toward the back of the bar, and went through a shimmery black curtain into another room. This room was way quieter and had huge gray couches spread around it. Eren spotted Hanji and Erwin on one couch, Petra on another, and some other guy Eren didn’t recognize on a third. A fourth couch had been moved to create a sort-of circle. Levi sat down on the same couch as Petra, but didn’t sit next to her. Eren could’ve sworn he saw her face fall for a split second, but by the time he looked again, she had the bright perky smile shining toward them.

“Armin! Eren! Great to see you both! And I can’t remember your name, but I do remember that you’re Eren’s sister!”

“It’s Mikasa.” Mikasa said in a bored tone. “Do they card at the bar?”

“Nope!” Hanji answered, and Mikasa immediately stood up and dragged Armin with her to go get drinks.

“Eren! This is Mike!” Hanji practically screamed. Eren raised a hand and said “hey,” but Mike simply leaned forward and sniffed at him, then returned to his seat with a nod toward Hanji.

“Eren, how’d you get that black eye?” Erwin asked with a hint of concern in his voice. By now, Armin and Mikasa had returned and handed Eren a beer. He gripped it with an iron grip and felt Mikasa stiffen beside him. Petra looked to Eren expectantly, and Eren thought he might puke because he could not think of a good excuse that didn’t involve getting beat up by his boyfriend.

“Get this,” Levi began. He looked to Eren and shook his head slightly. “Yesterday we’re leaving the studio and this kid runs in front of us and starts screaming about how stupid art is and that anyone who paints is a sissy bitch. So, Eren grabs this guy by the shirt and starts telling him to shut up, but this guy fucking spits in his face, which is just fucking despicable, so Eren punches him in the mouth. This dude swings and catches him in the eye, but then Eren punched him again and knocked him out cold and asked who was the sissy now.”

Levi looked pointedly at Hanji, who had been staring open-mouthed at him. She came to her senses and nodded her head emphatically.

“Yeah it was epic!”

Erwin looked at Levi skeptically who returned the look with disinterest, but Petra and Mike were talking on and on about badass that was. Eren rubbed the back of his neck and shot Levi a thankful look. Levi just stared at him and then announced he was going for a smoke break. Eren waited a few minutes (in the meantime, Hanji kept looking at him with eyes as big as saucers), and then told Mikasa that he had to piss. Eren asked Hanji where the bathrooms were and she pointed him in the same direction that Levi went. He followed her finger but ended up at a glass door that led out to a balcony. This was not the bathroom.

Levi was standing outside smoking and leaning against a rail that ran around the perimeter. Eren walked over to him and leaned his back against it.

“Uh, thanks for that. You didn’t have to do it.”

Levi nodded and took another drag of his cigarette.

“Can I ask why you did it?” Eren asked tentatively.

“No one likes to tell a story where they aren’t the hero.” He looked over at Eren and a smirk crept onto his face. “Plus, I can tell you’re a shitty liar.”

Eren stuck his tongue out at him, which made Levi’s smirk turn into a small smile. Levi looked away and took an extra-long drag.

“You know, Eren, there are certain…resources for people stuck in situations like you are. I don’t want you to feel like you have to tell me, because that isn’t the issue. But I think you need to get out of a situation that is putting you in danger.”

Eren nodded numbly and stood straight, planning on walking inside to avoid dancing around this subject anymore. He wanted nothing more than to stop talking about it. For some reason, knowing that Levi partially knew what was going was extremely embarrassing to Eren and he almost felt ashamed. Before he could take a step, Levi grabbed his arm and let go when he knew Eren had stopped.

“Sorry, I keep forgetting you don’t like that.” He scratched his head and sighed heavily. “Look, I don’t mean to pry or anything, I’m just trying to help.”

“It’s fine.” It was not fine.

“I just…I’m kind of awkward and I don’t know how to not be awkward. Ugh, even that sentence was phrased awkwardly.”

Eren found himself laughing hysterically at that for some reason. Levi was so frustrated and pouty and Eren just couldn’t get over it. He put his hands on his aching stomach and tried to stop laughing. Loud, unadulterated laughs flew from Eren’s mouth and it was so boisterous that even Levi had to join in.

“Sorry, Levi, I didn’t mean to laugh.”

“It’s okay, brat. I think you needed it.”

Eren nodded. They headed back into the bar when Eren turned to Levi.

“Where are the bathrooms? Hanji told me they were back here, but I didn’t see any on the way back.”

“That’s because they aren’t. They’re in the front near where we came in.”

Eren flushed when he realized what Hanji had set him up for. He dashed off to the bathrooms while Levi went and sat down. When he came back, he saw Mikasa and Levi at the bar, getting drinks and talking in hushed whispers to each other. Eren sat next to Armin, who giggled. Eren shot him a strange look.

“Armin, are you drunk?”

“No,” he hiccupped. Hanji let out a peal of laughter, too, and Eren saw eight empty shot glasses littering the table. Armin held out four fingers and giggled again.

“Sorry, Eren, I tried to tell him not to do it, but he just giggled and took all four of them in a row.” Erwin shrugged and shook his head. Eren laughed out loud at that and noticed that Armin had flushed when Erwin had looked at him.

Eren had known that Armin was into guys, but he had never seen Armin actually be interested in a guy before. Well,  Armin had told Eren the way he felt about Jean in high school, but wouldn’t believe Eren that it meant he was gay. Now, Armin must have gotten over those feelings because he didn’t act cute or anything around Jean the way he was acting now, around Erwin. Eren looked at over at Hanji, who had this shit-eating grin on her face. She jumped over to the other couch and sat so close to Eren that he could feel her hair tickle his face.

“Eren, I’m trying to get Armin and Erwin together, do you think it’s working?” She practically screamed in his ear. Eren laughed at the blush on Armin’s face and nodded.

“You’re next.”

“What?”

“I’m 100% sure Levi is gay and he doesn’t know it yet. Actually, Erwin and Mike agree with me, but we couldn’t figure out a good way to prove it. So, I’m going to make sure you two get together.”

Eren whipped his head around to make sure Petra hadn’t heard. Luckily, she had escaped to the bar and was trying to draw Levi’s attention away from Mikasa.

“Levi has Petra, Hanji.”

“Watch the way he acts around her.”

Eren turned and saw Petra grab onto Levi’s arm to get his attention. He looked over at her lazily with an annoyed expression on his face. She said something with a pout on her face and he waved her off with a hand and pointed back to where everyone else was sitting. Petra folded her arms and glared at Mikasa before stomping back over to the rest of the group.

“So what, it looks like he’s trying to get together with my sister?”

Hanji smacked her face to her forehead so hard that it resonated around the room.

“They’re talking about _you_ , silly.”

“What?!”

Eren leapt up and stormed over to Levi and his sister. He grabbed them both by the shoulders and whipped them around. Both had a slight look of shock on their faces.

“Mikasa, quit telling people my problems and let me deal with it on my own,” Eren growled.

“He’s trying to help, Eren.”

“I don’t need any fucking help.”

As if on cue, Eren’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He breathed in deeply and pulled it out of pocket.

>Why the fuck are you out without me.

Eren wondered how the hell Reiner even knew he was out.

>What?

>I see you.

Eren slowly turned around to see Reiner standing about two-hundred feet away with a snarl on his face. Eren turned around to see Mikasa and Levi staring at him. Eren stared at Mikasa and then flicked his eyes in the direction of Reiner. She looked past Eren and stood up so fast she almost knocked him over. A growl ripped from her throat as she made a move to walk over there, but Eren grabbed her arm. He looked at her pleadingly, forgetting that Levi was sitting right there.

“Please, Mikasa, not in public. Not in front of everybody. He can’t do anything with this many people around.”

“Are you kidding me, Eren? This guy broke down our door and almost fucking knocked you out.”

“Well, he isn’t going to do it right now.” Levi stated evenly. He looked over his shoulder at the rest of their friends and tilted his head. Erwin came over after a minute and looked at Levi.

“Stay over here a minute, man.”

“Why? What’s up?” Erwin looked around at everyone and paused when his eyes landed on Eren’s terrified face. “Who is it?”

“Big blonde dude that can’t keep his eyes off of Eren.” Levi almost whispered.

“Don’t.” Erwin said and stared at Levi. He put a big hand on Levi’s arm and squeezed the shit out of it. Eren watched this whole exchange with absolute confusion. He forgot about it when he saw Reiner walking toward them.

“Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.” Eren looked around wildly, and noticed that his sister, Levi, and Erwin had formed a circle that he couldn’t get out of. “Move guys, let me out!”

“Eren.” Reiner’s voice cut into Eren’s core and he flinched away instinctively. Eren lowered his eyes and realized that he was already tearing up in anticipation of what was coming.

“Get the fuck away from him.” Mikasa snarled.

“Cut it, bitch. I just want to tell him sorry for hurting him yesterday.”

“I’ll call the cops right now if you don’t turn around and walk away. I know they’re looking for you.” She snapped back.

“Now, I know that’s not why you came over here. So please, say what you would say to him if the three of us weren’t standing here.” Erwin said calmly.

“Eren!” Armin’s voice pierced through the music as he ran over to his best friend. He noticed Reiner and squeaked in fear. Armin stumbled back and was torn between making sure Eren was okay and running from Reiner. Reiner smirked and turned toward Armin, his hand raised.

“No!” Eren shouted and practically climbed over Levi and Mikasa. Reiner swung his arm at Armin and connected with bone that Eren felt crunch. He had shoved himself in front of Armin with a second to spare. Armin cowered behind Eren and clutched Eren's shirt in his fists. Blood pooled from Eren’s nose again and he groaned in pain. Erwin grabbed Reiner by the shirt and yanked him closer. Mikasa was on her phone frantically calling the police.

Erwin picked Reiner up a few feet off the ground and tossed him a small distance away. Levi lunged forward but slammed into Erwin’s arm that had been flung out to stop him. Erwin shoved Levi back toward Eren and Armin and nodded down at the two. Armin was sobbing and Eren had sat up and was trying to console him.

“E-Eren I’m so sorry I shouldn’t have come over here.”

“Shh, it’s okay, man. It’s nothing that hasn’t happened before.”

Eren noticed Reiner get up and look panicked when he saw lights flashing outside. He ran over to them and Eren grabbed Armin and wrapped his arms around him, protectively.

“You can’t be around them forever, Eren. One day, you won’t have any friends left because they’ll realize how weak you are and then you’ll have to come running to me.”

He dashed off before Erwin could grab him. Armin sobbed louder and Eren rubbed his back. Eren saw Levi crouch down in front of them and grab Armin out of Eren’s arms. He handed Armin over to Erwin, who scooped him up and brought him back over to the rest of the group. Eren watched as Hanji sat down next to him and rubbed his back consolingly, just like Eren had been doing. She turned her head and flashed a small smile toward Eren before redirecting her attention to Armin.

“Eren.” The sound of Levi’s low voice caused Eren to turn around. Levi grabbed his face and tilted it up to look up Eren’s nose.

“I’ll probably have to go back to the hospital again. It just broke last night.”

Levi shook his head and ran his fingers over Eren’s nose. Eren flinched at the touch but forced himself to try and remain calm. Just when Levi noticed Eren’s breathing slow down, he snapped Eren’s nose back into place. Eren let out a strangled scream and dug his fingers into Levi’s arm.

“Sorry.” Levi breathed.

Eren nodded as tears welled up in his eyes. Everyone had just seen directly into the most personal part of Eren’s life. People he hardly even knew now knew exactly why he had the black eye and they knew just how weak he is. He bit his lip and looked down at the ground.

“Do you want to leave?” Levi asked quietly.

“Yes. I want to go home.”

“Does he know where you live?”

“Yes.”

“Then you can’t go home.”

A sob escaped Eren’s throat and he dug his fists into his eyes. He was being so weak right now and it played right into the last thing Reiner had said to him.

“You guys can stay at my place.” Eren looked up to see Erwin looming over them with Armin leaning into his side. “I have a two bedroom apartment with no roommate. The couch pulls out into a bed, too.”

Levi grabbed Eren under the shoulders and hauled him up into a standing position.

“That’s fine, whatever let’s just get him out of here so that everyone can stop staring.” He hissed the last part at a group of older women who wouldn’t stop looking at Eren.

Erwin motioned to Mikasa, who followed them silently. Eren heard footsteps behind them and turned around to see Petra tailing them.

“Go home, Petra.” Levi said dismissively.

“No! I’m coming with you.”

“No. Have Hanji take you home or Mike.” Levi said his name in such a way that it hinted at two meanings. Petra flushed at that and didn’t say anything else. She stood solemnly and watched until they were out of sight. Levi flagged down a cab and shoved Erwin, Armin, and Mikasa in it. The taxi drove off toward Erwin’s apartment while Eren and Levi waited for another one.  After five minutes of unbearable silence, a slow moving taxi pulled up next to them. Levi flung open the door and called out the address then gently pushed Eren into the back seat. He climbed in after and sat as close to the door as possible. Eren took this as a sign that he was repulsive and a wave of sadness washed over him.

“Sorry I’m gross.” He whispered, his voice catching at the end. Levi turned to look at him.

“You’re not gross. I don’t want you to feel trapped in here when your boyfriend just manhandled you. I wasn’t sure how you were feeling about guys at the moment.” He relaxed a little into the seat once he realized Eren wasn’t going to have an anxiety attack.

They pulled up to Erwin’s apartment complex and Levi paid the cab driver. Eren attempted to hand Levi some money, but Levi pushed Eren's hand away with enough force to get his point across. After the cabbie pulled away, they headed toward the door and Levi pressed a button. A buzz sounded and unlocked the door and they headed up two flights of stairs. As they rounded a hall, Erwin’s head poked out of one of the doors and he motioned to them. He stepped aside to let them in and locked the door behind them.

“Where’s the kid?” Levi asked.

“Asleep with Mikasa.”

Levi grinned at him and clapped him on the shoulder proudly. Erwin brushed him off with a scoff and walked to a nearby closet to grab blankets and a few pillows.

“Do you guys want the pullout bed or…?”

“Uh, I can sleep on the floor.” Eren said softly.

“No.” Two voices said at once, one a little more aggressively.

“We can take care of it, man. I’m not tired yet anyway and this kid needs his cut cleaned.”

Erwin nodded and bid them goodnight before heading off to the back bedroom and shutting the door. Levi went to the bathroom and pulled out a band aid and some peroxide.

“Come here.” He called.

Eren followed him into the bathroom and sat down on the toilet lid. Levi grabbed a soft cloth and got it wet, then handed it to Eren.

“Clean off your face, first.”

He wiped his face for a minute or so until it felt clean. Eren tried to hand Levi the cloth, but he frowned and grabbed it out of Eren’s hand. It snapped back toward Eren a little, and Eren flinched involuntarily.

“Sorry, sorry.” Eren said embarrassedly.

“I won’t hurt you.”

Levi tilted Eren’s face upward and dabbed at an area near the cut that had a bit of dried blood left. He did it so gently that Eren hardly even felt it.

“Actually, this might hurt.”

He poured peroxide on a cotton ball and dabbed at the reopened cut. The peroxide bubbled up, lifting out any grime that had gotten in there, and it stung a little. Eren winced but otherwise didn’t move. Levi wiped off the excess and squeezed out a tiny bit of antibacterial cream on a Q-tip before applying it to the cut. He finished off with a band aid and then washed his hands, telling Eren to do the same.

They walked out into the living room and Eren felt awkward.

“Why didn’t you just go home with Petra?”

Levi didn’t say anything. He just walked over to the kitchen and grabbed two bottles of water out of the fridge. He handed one to Eren and then sat on the couch and turned on the TV. Eren sat at the opposite end and drank small sips of water.

“I’m trying to break up with her but I can’t think of a way to do it to where I won’t get pissed off.”

Eren looked at him questioningly.

“She fucked Mike and she thinks I don’t know about it. Well, she might know now since I kind of said something earlier, but whatever. Either way, she’s going to try and prevent me from leaving and I know that I’m going to have to bring that up and it’s going to piss me off and I don’t want that.”

Eren stared at Levi for several minutes until Levi finally got uncomfortable.

“What?”

“I’ve just heard you talk more tonight than I have since I met you two days ago.”

“God, that was only two days ago?”

Levi shook his head in surprise and stood up to look through Erwin’s DVD collection.

“Want to watch a movie? Or are you tired? I bet you’re tired after tonight, sorry. You can take the couch.” Levi made a move to turn off the TV.

“Wait! I don’t want to sleep. Let’s watch a movie. Something scary.”

Levi nodded his head and popped in something that had zombies on the cover. He tossed Eren a blanket and then curled up on the end with one of his own. They sat there and commented on how fake everything looked and how the actress at the beginning was terrible. After another stupid part in the movie, Levi turned to say something to Eren and noticed that Eren had fallen asleep against the arm of the couch. He tucked his legs in closer and watched with amusement as Eren stretched out his legs.

“Fucking couch hog.” Levi mumbled before leaning against the cushy armrest and dozing off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before I began writing this I wanted to ship Erwin and Armin but I wasn't sure if that was a thing or not because I had no idea what the hell the name would be and therefore I wasn't able to find a whole of them. Then Katrina asked for WinMin and I was so damn happy that someone finally told me the name. And I can guarantee that there will be more of that because I am so excited.


	8. The Underwear of Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally! Levi/Eren for days! Here is where my Levi headcanon deviates a little from how I feel he is represented. 
> 
> I'm sorry that the Ereri is building so slowly but I promise we're getting there.

Eren woke up the next morning and had about two seconds before the pain in his face nearly blinded him. He gingerly touched his nose and winced when he made contact. Sitting up slowly, Eren noticed that he was on a foreign couch in a foreign apartment. Looking to the other end of said couch, he saw Levi sprawled over the armrest with his arm dangling off the side. His shirt was twisted around his chest, revealing a wide strip of blindingly white skin. Eren averted his gaze to literally anything else in the room. He reflected on everything that happened last night and the events that led him to be brought to Erwin’s apartment. Even though Reiner had beaten him up again, all Eren could dwell on was that Reiner had wanted to say sorry.

The fucked up thing with Eren was that even though their relationship had become absolutely abysmal, all he could think about were the good times and the few sweet things Reiner had ever said to him. People were constantly encouraging Eren to break up with Reiner and Eren guessed that he understood why, but they never saw the good things about Reiner. Truly, the beginning of their relationship had been disgustingly picturesque. Eren could remember one day where they had spent all day simply talking and looking at each other.

“I can’t even look at him properly now, he made my eye swell shut,” Eren said with a dark laugh.

“What?”

Eren completely forgot Levi was laying there asleep. Well, now he was awake.

“Uh, nothing, just talking to myself.”

Levi grunted in response and stretched backward over the armrest. Eren tried really hard not to look, but he failed. He raked his eyes over Levi’s exposed abdomen and the lower part of his chest and drank in the sight. Levi was so different from Reiner-

_Holy shit, Eren, what the fuck is wrong with you? He’s into chicks and you are most certainly not a chick. You have a boyfriend; you are not a cheater._

A cleared throat brought Eren back to reality.

“You gonna make it or…?” Levi stared at Eren, who assumed his facial expressions must have been pretty ridiculous.

“Yeah, yeah, maybe I have a concussion or something.”

“What?” Levi suddenly looked concerned, but he reined it in when he saw Eren shake his hands back and forth.

“No! It was a joke. Sorry, only really fucked up people make jokes about that shit.”

Levi snorted, got up off the couch, and headed toward the bathroom. Eren mentally smacked himself for being so socially devoid, but it couldn’t be helped. He grabbed his phone out of his pocket and checked it. He had three texts, all from Reiner. Surprise, surprise.

>Eren, baby, I’m sorry I made a scene in front of your friends.

>Eren? Please forgive me, I really didn’t mean it.

>Call me when you get the chance, please.

Eren sighed and dialed the familiar number. It rang half of a ring it seemed before he picked up.

“Oh, Eren, thank god.”

“I’m getting pretty sick of this whirlwind, Reiner.”

“Baby, I know, I’m sorry school has got me so stressed right now. I’m taking it out on you and it’s not your fault.”

Eren sighed audibly and let his head roll back to hit the armrest. Here’s the part where Reiner begs him for forgiveness and he gives it like a complete fool.

“Eren, can you ever forgive me? I’ll never do it again, I swear. I’ll treat you right and make it up to your friends and you somehow.”

Like he hadn’t heard _that_ before.

“Yeah, it’s okay. I forgive you.”

“Can we go get lunch?”

“Yeah where do you want to go?”

“I’ll meet you on campus in front of where you have that watercolor class.”

“Alright.”

Eren hung up the phone and turned to see Levi standing in the threshold that separated the living room from the hallway. His eyes burned through Eren, who suddenly felt self-conscious.

“Your sister isn’t going to like that much.”

“You shouldn’t eavesdrop on conversations.” Eren snapped.

“Where should I have gone? There are four rooms in this place and two are currently occupied by other people and you’re in the third one.”

“Should’ve stayed in the bathroom.” Eren said weakly.

“I could hear you in there, too.” Levi mumbled. He walked over and snatched up the blanket he had used, folding it neatly into a square before putting back in the closet. Eren stood up and began to do the same, but Levi yanked that one out of his hands and folded it, too.

“Listen, thanks for everything, Levi. Can you tell Mikasa that I went to class?”

Levi looked at him incredulously.

“You’re actually going to go meet up with that asshole?”

“That asshole is my boyfriend!”

“He beat you up twice in twenty-four hours; I hardly think that constitutes love.”

“You don’t know shit.” Eren spat. “Your girlfriend probably cheated on you because you’re such a dick.”

“Wow, get the fuck out. Go meet up with your asswipe of a boy toy for all I care. I’ll tell your sister whatever fucking lies you want as long as you get out of my face right the fuck now.”

Eren yanked his shoes on and had to exercise extreme self-control not to slam the front door in Levi’s face. He stormed down the hall and walked outside and realized he had no fucking clue where he was.

“Shit.”

He picked up his phone and called Reiner.

“Hey I was just about to leave, what’s up?”

“Can you come get me?”

“Sure, at your place?”

A sense of dread filled Eren.

“No. My friends dragged me to one of their apartments. I’m not entirely sure where it is, but I can see a street sign if you want to put it in the GPS. It’s Maria Road.”

Silence. A pregnant silence that had Eren clutching the phone with all the might he could muster.

“Got it, I’ll be there in fifteen minutes, it says.”

“Great, thanks Reiner.”

“Anything for you, Eren.”

Eren hung up the phone and walked to the corner. He didn’t want to be standing right outside the complex in case Mikasa and Armin came out. After standing around for about ten minutes, Eren saw Reiner’s car pull up. He opened up the door and tried to gauge Reiner’s facial expression and body language to see what kind of mood he was in. Reiner grinned at him and patted the passenger seat.

“Come on, I’m hungry!”

Eren sat down and shut the door. Reiner pulled away from the curb and headed back toward campus. He made idle chitchat while Eren tried to give light, inoffensive answers to any questions he asked. Whenever Reiner was in this “honeymoon” stage, it was best to try and keep the happiness going for as long as possible. Telling Reiner that Eren had spent the night on a couch with another guy was the opposite of that.

“Is this deli okay, Eren?”

“Yeah, hun, it’s fine.”

Reiner grinned at Eren’s use of a petname while Eren inwardly grimaced. Reiner parked the car and the two walked into the deli. Eren ordered a turkey club while Reiner got an enormous BLT. They sat in silence and ate. When Eren was nearly finished, Reiner spoke up.

“So, what’d you do last night?”

“When? After you kicked my ass?”

The atmosphere in the deli came to a near stand-still the second those words left Eren’s mouth. He knew that his mouth would get him in trouble one day, but he thought it would be a lot farther down the road. Reiner clenched his hands into fists, which crushed the sandwich in his left hand. Eren took a deep breath and waited on the consequences of what he just said.

“Yes, Eren. After that.” Reiner gritted out.

“Uh, well, I went back to a friend’s apartment and cleaned my face up, then went to sleep.”

“With who?”

“No one. By myself.” Eren said this too quickly and hoped that Reiner wouldn’t pick up on Eren’s very apparent nervousness. Reiner narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on the poor BLT.

“Who’s apartment was this?”

“Just my friend’s.”

Reiner slammed his fist down on the table and Eren seriously regretted ever agreeing to come out with him. Reiner’s voice shook with rage as he glared Eren down.

“I am not asking again.”

“Erwin.”

“A guy’s apartment.”

Eren nodded and averted his gaze to the floor. Reiner most likely wouldn’t do anything here, but it was already embarrassing that people were looking over at the two. Eren heard the metal chair scream against the floor as Reiner stood up abruptly and scooped everything on the table into a nearby trash can. He grabbed Eren’s upper arm and wrenched him out of the seat. Eren followed with minimal resistance and tried desperately to suppress the fear that bubbled in his throat.

Reiner dragged Eren out to the car and opened up the passenger’s side door before shoving Eren into it. He got into the driver’s seat and slammed the door so hard that Eren was sure it was broken. Reiner gripped the steering wheel and was breathing hard.

“I don’t want to hurt you, but you need to tell me that you did not sleep at a man’s apartment.”

“Reiner, I slept there but on the couch, by myself. Mikasa and Armin were there, too.”

“You smell like someone else.”

“Because I used one of Erwin’s blankets. Nothing happened, I promise.”

Reiner let out an enormous sigh that Eren could only interpret as relieved.

“Good, because I was so worried that I’d have to punish you, and I really don’t like doing that.”

Eren sent him a weak smile and went for the door handle.

“I’ve got to go to class, but I’ll call you later, okay?”

“I’d walk you, but I’m late for class already and the professor is a huge bitch. Don’t go fucking around while I’m not there.”

Eren held his hands up in a defensive position and walked away with a quick wave. He waited until Reiner pulled away and then leaned up against the side of the deli. A shaky breath escaped his lips and he sagged to the ground before letting out a single sob. His chest constricted with the rush of anxiety and adrenaline that had been surging through him ever since he opened his stupid mouth.

“Why did I even say that?” Eren muttered to himself.

“Yeah, asshole, why did you say that?”

Eren’s head shot up when he heard a familiar low voice. Levi was walking toward him with a pissed-off look. Eren looked away guiltily when he remembered their conversation an hour ago.

“He beat you up again?” Levi said with less venom in his voice.

“Almost, but I talked my way out of it.”

“Well, good for you,” Levi replied awkwardly. He had absolutely no idea how to comfort someone who was confronted with a situation he’d never had to deal with. When Eren didn’t reply, he began walking towards the deli Eren had just come from. A hand darted out and grabbed his wrist, to which he recoiled and yanked his arm away. He looked down to see Eren recovering from flinching.

“Sorry. I just wanted to tell you sorry for being an ass this morning, Levi.”

“You certainly were a shithead, that’s for sure.”

He stared so intensely at Eren that Eren was forced to look at anything else besides those piercing blue eyes that made him feel insecure as hell. He looked up at the sky and noticed that it might storm soon. He noticed that there were very few birds, but he did see two planes headed toward each other that he was convinced would crash. The closer they got, the more nervous he became. When they seemed close enough to touch, he held his breath and waited. Finally, they passed each other without a hitch and he released the breath he’d been holding in. A snort from Levi drew him back to Earth.

“You are fucking weird, you know that?”

Eren flushed and picked at a patch of grass on the ground.

“Want lunch?”

“I just ate.”

“Want to watch me eat lunch?”

Levi walked into the deli and ordered a huge roast beef sandwich with cheese and sat down at the corner table near where Eren and Reiner had been sitting. Eren followed him in and tried to ignore the stares from the workers. Levi sat down and tucked into the sandwich, while Eren looked down at his lap.

“Got a boner or something?” Levi garbled between bites.

“What? No! God, sometimes you are so candid that it just shocks the hell out of me.”

Levi smirked and swallowed the mouthful of sandwich.

“So, uh, how did you hear what I said to Reiner?”

“What? I didn’t, I was assuming you saw me walking up to you and regretted being a douche this morning.”

“Oh. Sorry again.”

“It’s fine. One of the reasons I like hanging out with you is because you call me out on my shit. Nobody else does that because they’re too afraid. Plus, you’re the one person I know who’s in a more fucked up relationship than I am.”

Eren sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. Literally no one had a worse relationship than he did.

“So, were you going to go to your class?” Levi asked lightly.

“No, it’s Stats and if Armin isn’t going to be there to explain it, then there is no point in me being there.”

“Oh. Want to hang out?”

“And do what?”

“I don’t know, Christ. My only friends are Hanji and Erwin and they both have extremely twisted ideas of how to hang out. I’m always either caught up in some boring ass gossip about Erwin’s little eighteen year old boy crushes or I end up being an unwilling participant in an experiment. It’s horrific.”

Eren laughed out loud at that. Erwin liking guys like Armin was one thing that was already comical, but the thought of Levi and him gossiping was too much.

“Yeah sure, let’s go to the art museum or something.”

“Well, there’s this Oil Painting Expo that the students from the Summer Semester put on in the Galleria if you want to go look at that instead. It’s closer.”

Eren nodded and waited for Levi to finish his sandwich. He was astonished that such a little person could eat such an exorbitant amount of food, though he would never vocalize that thought out loud because Levi would seriously kick his ass. Once he was finished eating, they walked outside and off toward the Galleria, where the students from the College of Fine Arts would present exhibitions that they put together throughout the year.

Eren was still immensely curious as to how Levi knew he was at the deli.

“Hey, Levi?”

“Hm?”

“How’d you know where I was?”

“I didn’t, I was hungry after you left, and so I took a shower then headed over. You just happened to be there.”

“Weren’t you still mad? That didn’t seem like enough time for you to cool off. I would’ve still been pissed, at least.”

“We can’t all be volatile nineteen year olds,” Levi replied snarkily. “Plus, I was angrier at myself than at you. I _am_  a dickhead to Petra and no one has ever had the nuts to tell me that. I was embarrassed that I’ve only known you for like three days and you’ve said more honest shit to me than anyone, ever.”

“I guess you just seem kind of angry, like, all the time.”

“I’m just a socially-backward guy who tries to make toilet jokes and just ends up with a lot of blank stares and strange looks sent my way. It’s just easier to look mean and pretend that I hate everyone.”

“But I was under the impression that you thought everyone was complete shit?”

“Well, yeah, everyone _is_ complete shit, Eren. Just think about it, you’re just an inconsequential shitstain on the underwear of life.”

Eren thought that this was single-handedly the weirdest statement he’d ever heard. He decided the only possible way to answer would be with an even weirder one.

“I’d rather be a shitstain than a dead flake of ass skin, Levi. It’s more substantial and leaves an impression.”

Levi laughed so hard that he had to crouch in the middle of the street in order to breathe properly. A snort even wormed its way out of Levi’s nose and Eren let out a bark of laughter at that, which only served to further Levi’s laughing episode. When he finally regained some modicum of composure, Levi turned to Eren with a hint of laughter still tingeing his voice.

“I think I’m starting to like you, kid.” He punched Eren lightly in the arm and Eren felt a flurry of confusion boil up inside of him. A flash of heat ripped over his chest and he turned his face away to hide the warmth in his cheeks. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't get over all the great feedback I'm getting! Thank you for the comments and the love and all that jazz!


	9. Galleria

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me so long to update this!
> 
> Some notes: simethicone is Gas-X, my art knowledge is actually extremely limited, and there is a TON of dialogue in this chapter so I apologize if you aren't into that.

They walked up the steps to the Galleria and Eren was sort of wondering why he’d agreed to this…hanging out. He couldn’t stop thinking about the way Levi’s cheeks were pink from laughing and how he had practically confessed his love for Eren.

_No. He just said he likes you. As a friend. Meaning that he just doesn’t hate you. AS A FRIEND._

Eren screamed these thoughts in his head over and over. All he could process was how much this was like a _date_. His face must have been showcasing all of his inner thoughts, because Levi turned to look at him and stopped.

“Oi, do you have gas or something? I have some simethicone in my car if you need it.”

“What? No, I was just thinking.”

“Don’t think too hard or you’ll shart your pants.”

Eren threw his head back and let out a peal of laughter.

“Oh my God, Levi could you be any blunter?”

Levi smirked and held the front door of the Galleria open for Eren. They walked inside and Eren was amazed at the soaring vaulted ceilings and the details etched into every corner of the moldings. Their footsteps echoed on the marble floors and the air seemed ten degrees colder, as though the stone walls and floor sapped all the warmth from the hall. Pilasters separated different exhibitions from each other, and students and professors alike milled about. They observed the various forms of art scattered around the Galleria and spoke in quick, hushed tones to each other. Eren repeatedly raked his eyes over every inch of the space, and each time he found something new and wonderful. There were sculptures near the very end of the hall, before the Galleria’s Main Hall merged into a smaller hall, where Eren assumed conference rooms, offices, and the restrooms were held. Paintings, drawings, and etchings took up the majority of the Galleria’s space, but a student was knitting an enormous blanket with a ball of what looked like human hair. Eren looked incredulously at Levi, who saw his expression and chuckled.

“It’s art!” Levi said while rolling his eyes and wiggling his fingers. Eren grinned and grabbed Levi’s wrist, dragging him over to the first set of paintings. 

The first set of paintings was an oil set of three by a junior whose name was Gunter Schulz. The paintings were various geometric shapes that fit together in several circular patterns. The colors were so vivid that staring at them almost made Eren feel nauseous. He shook his head and walked to the next set, which were of birds taking flight. The title of the triptych was _Wings of Freedom._ Eren stared at the paintings with increased fervor as he read the title. The first painting was of swans that were in the midst of taking wing. Two of the swans were nearly in flight, wings flapping about as they tried to gather wind, but the last swan had turned its head around to look at something that was not depicted on canvas. It seemed to be lingering on something that its companions had not noticed, something important only to it. The painting in the middle was of a beautiful Red-Crowned Crane, its neck extended in a lithe arch. A second crane looked from a distance at the dance, as the central crane’s wings were flung out and cocked at a precise angle. The shape and movement of the crane’s legs in the painting was so realistic that Eren could almost see what its next moves were.

 The last painting was of a large brown bird of prey with white tips to its wings. The bird had its claws extended and Eren could almost hear the scream echoing from its open beak. The raptor soared above the clouds, looking down at unseen prey below. Eren felt some irrational fear at this one, and he subconsciously gripped the sleeves of his sweatshirt. The beady eyes of the eagle bored through him and made him feel guilty and inferior. He sighed heavily and shook his head because he knew these thoughts were ridiculous because this was _a painting_.

“Eren?”

Eren raised his head to look over at his friend.

“What?”

Levi’s eyebrows were furrowed and his mouth was turned down in a small frown.

“You seem anxious.”

Eren swallowed the lump in his throat and turned his head away. How could Levi even notice that? The only obvious manifestations of the anxiety threatening to creep up into his brain were a few clenches of his fist and a slight quickening of his breath.

“I’m okay, just a little paranoid, that’s all.”

Levi nodded and gestured to the next set of paintings. They were just montages of different color gradients. Eren felt calm just looking at them and a small smile graced his lips. He turned to Levi and was about to say something when a harsh ring pierced the quiet atmosphere. Levi quickly pulled his phone out of his pocket and frowned when he glanced at the caller ID. He pressed a button and grunted out a gruff hello. Petra’s voice on the other line was so shrill that Eren could hear it standing five feet away. Levi pulled the phone away from his ear and rolled his eyes dramatically. Their entire conversation was audible to Eren.

“I’m out.”

“Well, why did you leave me last night?! Who are you out with?” Petra was practically screaming.

“I don’t want to do this right now,” Levi said, his voice becoming more and more gritted. He shot a sideways look over at Eren when he said that, and Eren took it as a cue to meander over to another painting.

“Dammit, Petra. I said not now.”

Levi gripped his phone and headed toward the main entrance. He slammed the door open and Eren could hear his voice rise the moment he was outside. Eren decided to take this time to go look at the sculptures near the back of the Galleria. They weren’t nearly as interesting and his found his mind wandering to whatever Levi was discussing with Petra. A dark part of Eren’s mind wished they would break up, and he found himself slightly horrified at this. He must’ve been standing there staring at this naked sculpture for a while, because the front door flung open and a very pissed-off Levi strode over to him. He approached Eren so predatorily that Eren found himself pulling his arms around his torso as a subconscious defense mechanism. Levi’s eyes were shining with a flurry of emotions, most of which Eren interpreted as anger. The closer Levi got, the more Eren shrunk. As he neared Eren, he raised a hand to rub his face, which made Eren involuntarily flinch and fling a hand up in front of his face. His eyes involuntarily squeezed shut and he let out a squeak that was almost inaudible. Nothing happened, and after a moment he opened his eyes to find Levi three feet farther back and the anger in his eyes replaced with something else.

“Sorry, it’s just a habit-“

“Stop apologizing for things you have no control over and that aren’t your fault to begin with.”

Eren looked down at his shoes and then back up to Levi. The only response he could think of was another apology and that didn’t seem to be going over too well, so he decided to keep quiet. Levi slowly moved his hand over to Eren’s arm and gently closed his hand over Eren’s forearm. He tugged at it and began walking toward the entrance of the Galleria, where he had just come from. He let go of Eren’s arm once they were outside, and he pulled a pack of cigarettes out from his back pocket.

“Do you care if I smoke?”

“No.”

Levi nodded and pulled out a black lighter from the same pocket. Eren watched as he stuck the cigarette between his lips and placed his thumb on the thumbwheel. The quiet snick of the wheel rubbing the flint was something that Eren had always thought was pretty cool for some reason. A tiny flame shot out and caught the end of the cigarette. After a few inhales to ensure that the cigarette was alight, he replaced the lighter. He turned toward Eren and took another drag.

“Eren, if we’re going to hang out, I need you to realize that I will never hurt you.”

“I know.”

“You don’t though. Something about me is identical to something about your jackass of a boyfriend and that sucks, but I’m not him. I would rather die than hurt somebody that doesn’t deserve it.”

“Sometimes I do deserve it.”

The look on Levi’s face could’ve torn Eren in two if it had physical properties.

“Give me an example.”

“Well, um, he wants me to drop studio because Jean is in it. We all went to high school together and they don’t get along. But I told Reiner that I didn’t want to drop it and I lied and said it was mostly girls, but he found out it wasn’t. I shouldn’t have lied.”

“Unbelievable.”

Eren looked over to Levi with a confused look on his face. Levi chuckled and took another drag.

“Eren. You are allowed to do whatever you want, whenever you want, with whoever you want. No one can control your life and steer you away from things that you love just because they don’t want you to do it. Hell, I let you leave the apartment this morning and go see that dickhead because it was what you _wanted_ to do. I didn’t tell your sister or anyone because it was your choice. I could’ve very easily prevented you from going, but it isn’t my business because you are a fucking human being who can make your own damn decisions. I really didn’t want you to go because I figured you would end up getting hurt, but when I saw he wasn’t going to hurt you, I’m glad I let you go, because it was one of the few choices you’ve ever been allowed to make that had virtually no consequences.”

“What do you mean you saw he _wasn’t_ going to hurt me?”

Levi’s eyes widened a bit, as though he realized he had said too much.

“Uh. Nothing, you told me he didn’t hurt you.”

“No, you said wasn’t, like you already knew when he was still around.”

“Fuck," he breathed. "Okay, please don’t judge me because I was really worried about you even though you were a complete shit this morning. You were a total asshat, okay? I watched him pick you up and then I figured that the only places around here are the deli and this Italian place nearby, but the spaghetti is terrible and everyone knows it. So, I took a gamble and went to the deli and saw his car out front then I hung out across the street and smoked until you guys came out. I almost grabbed you when you guys left because you looked so scared, but knew I wouldn’t get there in time. I’m glad you stopped the snark for two seconds to preserve your face before he beat you up anymore.”

“Well, I made sure not to tell him that we slept on the same couch or that would’ve been the end of me.” Eren said with an embarrassed chuckle. “Plus, he’s in the stage where he’s all apologetic after he beats me up.”

“God Eren, your perspective is so fucked up.” Levi muttered.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean you could have anyone in the world and you chose probably the lowest piece of scum on the planet.”

Erne flushed every crayon color of red he could fathom. “I-I’m kind of limited on choices based on my looks and my personality.”

Levi threw his head back and laughed out loud.

“Do you know what you look like?”

Eren nodded and touched his face without thinking.

“Obviously not, if that’s how you think,” Levi replied with a smirk. “And your personality is not that bad, I don’t get what you mean by that. I can barely tolerate my best friends but I have no problem hanging out with you.”

“I’m weak and annoying. My voice is too loud and I’m both angry and abrasive while being a complete doormat. I can’t handle anything and I’m really weak and pathetic.”

“Well, your voice is definitely pretty loud.” Levi agreed. “But I’ve never seen anyone put up with as much shit as you do and still be a functioning person, so weak is out of the question. I’m angry and abrasive so I can’t really judge you on that.”

Eren smiled at that and felt a million times better than he had for months. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's short, it just felt like a good place to end it. I'll have another chapter up fairly soon, so don't worry!


	10. Fight Club?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super short filler chapter! Yay! 
> 
> So... I'm adding this plot element because apparently I like to add plots when I'm not 100% sure where I'm going with it. This will all tie up eventually, I promise. This entire POV is mostly Erwin, but there's Levi galore in it. And Winmin because it's seriously my new favorite ship. Also, I'm sorry Levi shits on Petra all the time, she really is an awesome chick but oooohhhh well.
> 
> Anyway, thanks so much for all the comments and kudos and I LOVE IT!

Erwin woke to the sound of his phone ringing. He groaned and reached a large hand over to the smooth black end table and grappled around until he felt the cool metallic device.

“Erwin,” He answered with a hint of animosity at being woken up.

“Erwin! I think Levi might be in trouble.”

He sat straight up in bed and gripped the phone. He hadn’t heard that phrase from someone in so long that he had nearly forgotten the fear it instilled in him. Levi had been his best friend since their age was in the single digits, and he was constantly keeping his friend in line. Levi’s past had a nasty habit of quickly catching up to him, and Erwin was one of few who were able to minimize the consequences as well as could be expected.

“Explain.”

“Well, I called him and he said he was out and wouldn’t tell me who he was with!”

“How does that equate to wandering down The Row?”

“Um, it doesn’t, I just… I’m worried and he was irate and wouldn’t answer any of my questions,” Petra tittered nervously.

Erwin sighed. He really needed Levi to piss or get off the pot when it came to ending his relationship. Levi had been dragging Petra through the mud lately in an attempt to get her to break it off, but she was clearly unaware of his intentions. Erwin actually felt sorry for her, because she truly was a nice girl and was fun to be around.

“I’ll talk to him, Petra. Don’t fret over him.”

“Thanks, Erwin.”

He ended the call and stood from the bed. Opening the door, he peered out into his living room to see both his friend and Eren were missing. The second bedroom door was still closed, so he assumed the other two were still out cold. He pulled up his contacts and tapped on Levi’s name.

“Yeah,” Levi answered without any preface.

“Are you out?”

“No, I’m still sitting on your couch. I’m waving to you right now.”

“Cut the crap, Levi, where are you?”

“Would you like coordinates so you can send them to Petra?”

“She’s worried.”

“I’m at the Galleria with Eren, but I wasn’t sure if she’d like that answer or not. Do you need more details like what we’re wearing or if Eren’s breath smells like shit?”

Erwin heard a muffled “hey!” in the background and he felt the tension leak from his shoulders. Levi would never drag someone like Eren down The Row.

“As long as you aren’t somewhere you aren’t supposed to be, I don’t need to hear anything other than that.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, now please stop catering to Petra’s every damn whim.”

“Levi. You need to be careful if Eren’s assailant shows up. I won’t be there to stop you and I’m not so sure showing that part of you to Eren is the best thing for him right now.”

He knew that trying to convince Levi not to fight was an uphill battle, but using Eren as an excuse had so far been fairly effective. Erwin knew that Levi cared about Eren, even if his dope of a friend was completely unaware of his own feelings. The poor man still thought he was straight, for crying out loud. He could feel Levi hesitating, deciding on whether or not to agree.

“Yeah, alright. I get it,” Levi finally mumbled.

“Great! Enjoy your day out,” Erwin finished brightly while ending the call before Levi could respond. He turned around to see Armin standing in the doorway to the second bedroom, leaning against the frame. His hair was an unruly mess and his eyes were still glazed with sleep. A huge yawn escaped his mouth and Erwin had to suppress a grin at how cute Armin was. Armin stared at him with a strange look.

“What part of Levi shouldn’t Eren see?”

Erwin blinked and in 0.2 seconds Armin’s face had gone from cute little boy to calculated and sharp. A lesser man would’ve been unnerved by this transformation, but luckily Erwin was nothing of the sort. He allowed a small smile to grace his face while he quickly piled up his answer.

“Just something I don’t think Levi wants to show him yet.”

“Do you really think that answer is going to mollify me?”

A heavy sigh forced its way out of Erwin’s mouth before he could stop it. Very few people were this unpredictable. He thought he had Armin pegged as cutesy and passive, but he was quickly realizing how wrong that assumption was.

“Look, Armin, it’s not really my place to tell people things about my friends without their permission. You really shouldn’t have eavesdropped in this first place.”

A dangerous smile curved Erwin’s mouth upwards, and he thought for a second that Armin would back down finally. Wrong.

“When it comes to _my_ friends, I’ll do what it takes to make sure they’re safe.”

They stared at each other for a while, both sets of blue eyes shining with determination to outlast the other. Armin finally looked away, defeated, and trudged toward the bathroom. Erwin shot out a hand and gently grabbed Armin’s forearm.

“Fine, sit down and I’ll tell you, but you can’t tell Eren or his sister. It’s truly not my story to tell.”

Armin nodded eagerly and flew over to the couch before plopping down. He bounced up and down until Erwin came over and sat on the opposite side.

“Levi and I have known each other since we were children. We were friends all throughout school, but toward the end of high school, he began to worry about how he was going to get into college. His parents are both factory workers who barely had enough money to keep a roof over their heads, so asking them for help was out of the question. The closer it got toward the end of our final year, the more withdrawn he became. One day, he showed up to school with a black eye similar to how Eren’s looks, but he had a smile on his face. When I asked him what had happened, he said ‘I figured out my future.’

From then on, he would show up to school every once in a while with bruises or scratches and would never tell me where he got them. Finally, I followed him after school and watched as he went home, changed, and then headed off toward the nearby campus, which is where we all now go to school. He headed down a dark alley and proceeded to stop at a small brown door that was slightly ajar. He kept whipping his head back and forth like he was waiting for someone to jump out at him, but he eventually opened the door and slipped inside. I waited a few minutes and then followed him. The door led to a huge warehouse that had two rings inside that sort of looked like boxing rings but had cages around them. I watched Levi greet someone and then yank his shirt off before stepping inside to stand across from this burly guy who looked twice his age. Bets were made by all kinds of people, but I noticed most people betted against him.  A bell sounded and they ran at each other and started beating the hell out of one another. I was convinced Levi would be dead when it was over, but then he jumped on this guy’s back and flipped him over, then knocked him out.

Anyway, the bookies give a chunk of the money from the bets to the fighters, and since Levi was constantly betted against, he always walked out with a substantial amount of money. Long story short, he saved up enough money to pay for college in its entirety.”

“Why is any of this a bad thing?” Armin was fairly confused at how vague this story was, and was convinced that Erwin had told him only the bare minimum.

“Well, the bad thing is that when he fights, Levi becomes a different person. He turns into this animalistic thug that beats the shit out of people until they’re nearly dead. Sometimes, the referee had to physically carry him away from his opponent in order to save the man’s life. Levi loves fighting, and he would still be doing it if I hadn’t stopped him. I’m concerned about him spending time around Eren because Eren has enough violence in his life. I don’t want Eren’s boyfriend to come around and antagonize them, because Levi will beat the hell out of him. Especially because we all know he cares about Eren, which would only give him more reason not to stop. A fighting Levi, is a scary Levi, trust me. Imagine how Eren would take it if his boyfriend gets assaulted by someone Eren labels as his friend?”

Armin could see the consequences of that. Eren had so much violence in his life, that nobody felt the need to introduce more. He sighed and felt sympathy for his best friend.

“I don’t want Levi to scare Eren. They’re good for each other, I think.”

Erwin nodded and patted Armin’s head. He stood up and walked over to the kitchen, pulling out some eggs from the refrigerator. Armin grinned as he got a nice view of Erwin’s ass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if Armin's OOC but I have trouble seeing him as a weakling because I feel like he's a closet badass.


	11. Frayed Nerves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Boys being boys because they are boys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure when I turned Levi into a brooding boy that says these one-liners and then goes back to brooding, but here he is.

Eren walked through the door of his apartment that night and called out to see if his sister or best friend were home yet. Armin flew out of the back room and clamped Eren in a tiny bear hug. Eren laughed and patted Armin on the head.

“Where were you, Eren? We’ve been worried all day! I had to stop Mikasa from calling the police and initiating a man hunt for you!”

“What? Why didn’t you just call me?”

“Your phone was off!”

Eren reached into his pocket and hit a button to check the phone’s status. The screen remained black and he turned back toward Armin with a sheepish grin.

“It’s fine, Eren. Let me text Mikasa so she knows you’re okay.”

“Where is she?”

“Oh, she met some chick in her biology class and they’re hanging out. Annie, I think her name was? She’s in your watercolor class, I think.”

“Oh, Annie? Yeah she’s cool.”

Armin typed out a quick message to Mikasa, and then dragged Eren over to the threadbare, hideous tartan couch that sprawled through half the living room. Armin’s grandfather had purchased the couch for the trio at a local Goodwill, and all three had been grateful since it was better than not owning one. They both plopped down and Armin looked at Eren expectantly.

“What?”

“Tell me where you’ve been for twelve hours!”

“Wow, it’s been twelve hours? I didn’t even realize-“

“Eren!”

“Okay! I woke up and Reiner called me- you can’t interrupt, Armin, let me finish. Anyway, he wanted to apologize and so he came and picked me up and we went to that deli nearby or whatever. Then we ate and he asked whose apartment I was at and when I told him Erwin’s, he got really upset. So he yelled at me for a little bit until I pacified him and he left for class. I had been kind of anxious the whole time, so I sat on the side of the building for a few minutes to calm down. Then all of a sudden Levi showed up- I’ll tell you about him in a minute, Armin, just wait!

So he said he was hungry and asked if I wanted to hang out. So he ate lunch and then we went to the Galleria to look at the exhibitions they had up. Afterwards we walked around and then got dinner and drank coffee and talked. Then he walked me home and now here I am.”

“So you went on an epically long date, is what you’re telling me?”

“What?! No, it wasn’t like that!”

“Did he pay for dinner?”

“No, Armin.”

“Did he try to?”

Eren flushed and remembered how he had practically punched Levi in the face to avoid having him grab both checks. Armin giggled at Eren’s face and Eren shoved him away gently.

“It’s not like that! Levi has a girlfriend, Armin. The man is straight!”

“Okay, okay. Tell me what you were going to tell me about him.”

“No, I don’t want to anymore, because you’re going to turn it around and make me feel embarrassed.”

“Stop being a five-year old and just tell me, Eren!”

“Fine! He said he didn’t know why I was with Reiner because I could have anybody I wanted. When I told him I had limited choices because of the way I look, he laughed at me and asked me if I knew what I looked like and laughed again.”

“That is possibly the cutest thing I’ve ever heard,” Armin squealed. “Please get him out of the closet, Eren, before someone else does.”

Eren stomped out of the room and jumped into the shower, trying to ignore Armin’s laughing and the obnoxious adrenaline feeling he got every time he thought about Levi.

\---

The next morning, Eren woke up with a heavy feeling of dread. He was dreading going to studio both because he wanted to see Levi and because he didn’t want to see him. Eren was well aware that after only four days, he was developing a (hopefully) subtle crush on his friend. Were they friends? Can you be friends with someone after only knowing them for _four days_?! He wasn’t sure, and he was starting to feel kind of creepy about the whole thing. Maybe his feelings for Levi were simply because Levi provided such a contrast to Eren’s current relationship while also showing Eren how independent people usually were. He was terrified of ruining this fragile friendship, so Eren was determined to box his feelings up and store them away for eternity. 

Armin and Eren waved goodbye to Mikasa outside their World History class. Armin flung the doors open and walked down toward his usual seat next to Petra. She glanced over to them and gave them a small smile, but otherwise hardly acknowledged their presence. Eren couldn’t figure out if it was because she knew he was out with Levi yesterday or if she was still angry that they had left her at the bar. He decided he didn’t really care, and turned his attention toward the droning professor.

Only ten measly minutes had passed before Eren felt his eyes drooping and his head bobbing dangerously. He kept pinching himself to try and get above that pain threshold that would shock his brain into waking up, but he just couldn’t manage it. He was about to tear off part of his arm when he felt his phone vibrate. The fear of who it might be jolted him awake instantly, and he slowly pulled the phone from his back pocket. ‘Grouch’ flashed on the screen and Eren had to hold back a laugh as he remembered putting Levi under that name.

>Does Petra look tired or angry?

Eren slyly looked over at her and tried to gauge her mood from the little bit of her face that was visible. She hadn’t really said anything to Armin, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything.

>Idk maybe why?

The response was instant.

>Good, because I don’t want her to be in a bad mood when I break up with her. She fucking slept with Mike again the other night. Mike has the nuts to tell me, and she doesn’t.

He wasn’t even sure how to respond to this. On one hand, most people would want to be comforted and told that everything would be alright, but Eren knew that Levi would cease speaking to him if he even tried that. Eren typed out a message and deleted it a hundred times. He forgot that it showed Levi when he was texting, because he got another message after a few minutes.

>I don’t need sympathy, if that’s what you’re trying to work out. I just needed facts.

>I’m sorry, Levi.

>Wow, all that typing and that’s all you can come up with? Pure, unadulterated genius. I’m surprised they even let you into college, at that rate.

Fury flamed up in Eren and he had to suppress a growl of frustration. His fingers jammed at the letters so hard that a tiny part of his mind was worried about breaking the phone.

>Don’t be pissy at me because you don’t want to break up with your girlfriend! I can’t help that she sleeps around!

Eren’s hands gripped the phone and he willed himself to take deep breaths. Getting irrationally angry wasn’t a good idea, especially since he had just done this yesterday morning with Levi, too. Apparently neither one was a morning person.

>Leave your class and come say that to my face.

Eren had clearly lost all rationality at that point, because he whipped his head toward Armin and whisper-shouted that he was going to the bathroom before flying out of his seat and storming outside the classroom. He kicked the doors to the building open and stomped outside to where Levi was standing ten feet away. The sneer on Levi’s face was almost enough to make Eren turn right back around, but his boiling anger had already taken root and refused to allow him to do anything but bristle further.

“Why are you being such a dick!”

“God, Eren I had a shitty night and I don’t want to argue.”

“Then why the fuck did you tell me to come out here?!”

“Because I didn’t think you actually would,” Levi said as he turned his head away.

“Well, I’m sorry I made your night suck,” Eren’s penchant for self-guilt reared its head, and he fell into his natural routine of assuming blame for everything that was going wrong.

“I swear that you are the dumbest person I know. I have literally never met _anyone_ as stupid as you.”

Eren wasn’t sure if it was the flat way that he said it, or if it was because he had been so emotionally fragile lately, but those two sentences plowed right through his rational thinking, and straight into his deepest set of fears. All the negative things that Reiner had ever said to him mostly revolved around Eren being dumb or weak or inferior in some way. He tried extremely hard not to let his voice crack.

“You and Reiner have a lot more in common than I thought.”

He looked over at a bench that was a few feet away and tried to ignore the fist-sized lump in his throat. The movement in his periphery alerted him to Levi’s hand reaching out toward Eren, but he pulled back when Eren flinched.

“Petra seemed pissed off, but she’s going to be pissed off either way when you break up with her, so I don’t even know why you asked me that. I’ll see you in studio in half an hour.”

With that, Eren abruptly turned around and all but ran back into the auditorium.

\---

Thirty minutes later, Eren trudged out of World History and waved to Armin before dragging himself over to Rose Studios for watercolor. He stared at the ground as he walked, wishing that he had never even seen or spoken to Levi this morning. His thoughts consuming him, he didn’t realize that he had run into someone until they shook his shoulder.

“Eren! Earth to Eren!”

“Ah, so they let you out of the stable this morning, I see. Having the world’s only painting horse must really raise the prestige of the place,” Eren finished with a barely concealed laugh and dodged Jean’s attempt to grab him before scampering off to his seat. Antagonizing Jean always made Eren feel better, no matter what the situation was. He heard a few snickers go around the class, as most of the other students enjoyed the banter between the two. Eren chanced a glance at Levi, who met Eren’s look for a second before turning his attention to the blank canvas in front of him. Hanji had placed canvas in front of the seats of a few students who she had deemed worthy. Levi, obviously, had been using canvas since the beginning, and Eren noticed he had one as well. Annie, next to him, also had one. He remembered that Mikasa had hung out with Annie last night, and he wanted to ask how they had met, but Hanji interrupted to begin class.

She began class by discussing the different techniques that could be used when painting with watercolors. Wet in wet, where the paper was wet when you added the colors, dry painting, where the paints had very little water added in order to make them thicker and more manageable. This also created sharper lines and more definition. Eren found himself both interested in this topic and uninterested at the same time. He already used most of these things anyway, though he had no idea what the names were. As a child, he had simply tried different things and figured out what he liked best. Dry painting was definitely the easiest, but he had a particular passion for beginning his paintings with dropping in colors, which was exactly what it sounded like; allowing the colors to feather their way around the paper freely gave way to some interesting shapes and color gradients.

Eren’s reverie ended when Hanji clapped her hands and told everyone to begin drawing out their paintings. She gave Eren a knowing look and laughed when he flushed in embarrassment at his previous drawing attempts.

“Eren, you can start painting if you want,” She giggled. Hanji turned around and sauntered over to the stereo, where she hit a few buttons. A song drawled out and the lyrics made Eren groan.

_And I don’t want the world to see me_

_because I don’t think that they’d understand_

“Oh for fuck’s sake, Hanji. Not this song,” Levi snarled at her, and she must’ve heard the animosity in it, because she whipped around and turned the volume down until it was merely a whisper in the background.

The students began aptly painting and everyone settled into a level of comfort that Eren wouldn’t have expected after only two classes. People were walking around asking for extras of paint they had run out of, and Eren stopped to simply observe the happenings around him. His brain wandered back to Annie and Mikasa hanging out and he swiveled his stool to face her.

“Hey, Annie. I heard you hung out with my sister yesterday. How’d you guys meet?”

“I’m in her Biology class and lab. We had to be partners in lab and then we decided to hang out.”

“That’s cool. Mikasa needs more friends so I really appreciate you guys hanging out.”

Annie nodded. “Yeah, I don’t really have a ton of friends, either. I hang out with Bertl,” she gestured toward Bertoldt across the room, “But other than that, I don’t really have anyone. Oh, some big blonde prick named Reiner keeps trying to get in my pants, but I’m not having that.”

Eren wished he could be sad or angry, but in reality he was relieved. Maybe Reiner would realize that he was into girls more than guys, and would toss Eren aside. He found himself running scenarios in his head where he confronted Reiner about hitting on Annie, and Reiner admitted that he didn’t want to be with Eren. Unconsciously, a smile split Eren’s lips and the corners of his mouth stretched closer and closer to his ears with every scenario he thought about. Someone cleared their throat, and Eren shook his head to clear it. He looked around the room to see who had interrupted him, and noticed Levi staring at him with a strange look on his face. Was it concern? Or…did Levi think he was a raving lunatic for grinning like a serial killer in the middle of class? Probably the latter. Eren looked back down at his painting and bit his lower lip to suppress the grin that was already fighting its way back onto his face.

\---

Class ended, and Eren stood up to take his canvas over to the drying corner. He was last in line, and everyone had pretty much shuffled out by the time Eren was ready to go. As he approached the door, he saw Jean lingering outside.  Jean’s face arranged in a scowl as he looked at Eren’s face.

“Your shiner looks the same as it did two days ago, why isn’t it getting better? Why weren’t you in class yesterday?”

“What’s with the twenty questions, man? I didn’t sign up for a naggy horsewife when we decided to be friends.”

A snort a few yards behind them alerted Eren to Levi’s presence as they walked outside.

“Cut it with the horse jokes, Eren, Christ! Am I not allowed to be worried about you, you jackass?”

“Alright alright, we got drunk on Wednesday night and Reiner punched me in the same place again. That’s why it isn’t any better. I skipped class because I felt like shit and woke up too late. Anyway, get this. Annie told me Reiner keeps hitting on her and I think I can use it as enough leverage to get away from him.”

Jean stopped in his tracks, but Eren kept walking.

“Eren, are you sure? I think you need an army of people around you when you do that.”

“I’ll do it over the phone or something. I’ll figure it out. Go to class.”

They opened the door and Jean waved to Eren before heading off to his next class, whatever that was. Eren responded in kind and watched as his friend walked away.

“You better be careful.”

Levi’s quiet voice made Eren shriek and jump a few inches off the ground. He had completely forgotten that Levi was behind him. Eren turned around, expecting Levi to be smirking, but instead was greeted with a dead serious expression.

“I-I’ll be alright. I think I can get him to realize that he likes chicks. He’s embarrassed to be around me anyway because he doesn’t want people to know that we’re together. I used to be a lot prettier in high school,” Eren chuckled bitterly at the end of his statement.

Levi muttered something that sort of sounded like “You’re still pretty,” but Eren didn’t really hear it. He looked over at Levi, who was turned away from him and scratching his head.

“Eren, you should have Mikasa with you if you go through with this.”

“Or you. You’re probably even better than Mikasa, honestly.”

“No,” Levi’s voice cracked like a whip. He sighed and cleared his throat before speaking again, in a softer tone. “I mean, no, I can’t fight your boyfriend if it comes to that.”

“What? You definitely would beat his ass. He’s all brawn and no skill-“

“I’d kill him.”

“What?”

“If it came down to that, I wouldn’t be able to stop. I don’t want that to happen, Eren.”

“O-Okay.”

“Did you walk to class?”

Eren nodded and Levi gestured for Eren to lead the way. He headed toward his apartment, with Levi in tow. Levi had fallen silent and brooding, and Eren had no idea how to relieve the blanketing silence.

“Uh, so are you breaking up with Petra later?”

“Yeah.”

“Listen, I’m sorry about earlier. I didn’t mean to get all snappy; my nerves have kind of been frayed lately.”

“Yeah.”

Eren gave up making conversation because clearly that was the only response he was going to receive. They walked the five minutes to Eren’s apartment that he shared with his sister and best friend.

“Do you want to come in?”

“Can’t, I have class that started ten minutes ago.”

“What?! Why did you even come with me, then?”

Levi didn’t say anything, so Eren muttered his thanks and turned to head into the building. A hand lightly tugging his elbow made him turn to glance back at Levi, who still wouldn’t look at him.

“If something happens, I want you to call me.”

“I don’t want to bother you with triv-“

“Please, Eren.”

“Uh, yeah. You, too, okay?”

Levi nodded and let go of Eren’s elbow. He breathed out a few words that Eren didn’t hear, and then turned around and stalked back off toward campus, leaving Eren completely confused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So those two lyrics were from the song 'Iris' by The Goo Goo Dolls and I'm not even sorry. It came on my Pandora as I was writing this and I have a soft spot for that song (even though Levi clearly doesn't).
> 
> Awkward boys are awkward and the tension between them is so ridiculous, all they can do is yell at each other (¬‿¬)


	12. Pesky Neighbors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I cranked out this chapter and I'm not one to have specific update days or times or anything remotely consistent and as a consequence, here's this chapter. It's in Levi's perspective as much as a 3rd person story can have POV. You'll see what I mean. 
> 
> Thank you so much for all the comments and kudos and I just love everyone!
> 
> I'm also still apologizing for the fact that they've only known each other for less than a week but w/e at this point.

Levi walked out of his Creative Nonfiction class, which was about as much fun as it sounded, and toward his apartment across campus.  The thought of the impending split he was about to go through weighed on his mind, but oddly enough he didn’t seem to care. He was far more worried about Eren and his relationship. Hopefully, Eren wasn’t as air-headed as usual and actually had his sister with him when he ended things. Levi had a feeling that even if Eren “ended things” tonight, the real end wouldn’t be in sight for a long time. Getting out of a physically abusive relationship was one thing, but getting out of a relationship that was both physically and psychologically abusive was probably much more difficult.

He shook his head and sighed heavily. He wasn’t entirely sure how it had happened, but Eren had magically wormed his way into Levi’s life and upended everything he ever thought he knew about himself. Levi hated everyone, even people he called his friends. He only dated Petra because he originally didn’t hate her, but that had quickly changed. People were born to break your heart, so what better way to protect yourself than to never let them near it in the first place? His number one rule in life was to keep people at such a distance to where you could let them go forever and never feel the need to hesitate about your decision. Eren had come in and shattered this philosophy and Levi sort of hated him for it, but not in the same way he hated everyone else. Christ he wasn’t even making sense.

“This fucking kid,” he growled softly.

Levi barely even noticed his surroundings until he was at his front door. The duplex he split with Hanji faced the campus, and you could see the very top of Rose Studios from outside. He looked over to Hanji’s side of the house and rolled his eyes at the three newspapers littering the lawn. One day he would take those papers she never read but insisted on receiving and shove them up her ass, but today was not that day. He unlocked the front door and threw his bag down in its proper spot in the entryway. Rounding the corner into the kitchen, he started a teapot of water boiling on the stove and pulled out his phone. He looked up Petra’s number (why even bother memorizing it when he knew that eventually they would break up anyway) and pressed her name. She answered on the third ring.

“Hi baby, what’s up?”

She was already pissing Levi off.

“When can you come over?”

“Oh, frisky are we?” she purred.

“No. Come over when you get out of class.”

With that, he hung up the phone and threw it on the nearby charcoal colored sofa. Steam streamed out of the spout of the pot and he flipped the burner off. He poured some loose leaves into the filter and then gently set the cast iron lid on top. The doorknob on the front door turned but was caught by the lock, and he heard the doorbell.

“It’s me!” a muffled singsong voice came from outside. Levi rolled his eyes and unlocked the door.

“Petra, I thought you had class until four?”

“Well, you sounded so serious that I skipped.”

Levi cursed under his breath and ushered her inside. He hadn’t thought out what he was going to say and this was going to lead down some ugly roads in a few minutes.

“Sit down,” he ordered. She complied and looked up at him with a curious look on her face.

“Levi, what’s this all about?”

The innocence on her face pissed him off even more. How could she sit in his house, on his couch and pretend that she hadn’t slept with his friend twice? What kind of person does that?

“I know you slept with Mike.”

Her face pulled into a frown that seemed very practiced, and Levi noticed that she was blinking repeatedly. Was she trying to make herself cry?

“It was an accident, Levi. It happened a while ago and I didn’t tell you because I embarrassed and ashamed.”

“Bullshit, Petra. Mike told me you guys fucked on Wednesday night.”

Her demeanor changed from pouty to pissy in about two seconds flat.

“Well, maybe if you hadn’t abandoned me so you could go fuck that Mikasa bitch, I wouldn’t have had to seek comfort somewhere else!”

A high-pitched screaming laugh sounded from the other side of the wall, and Levi groaned when he realized that Hanji was home and privy to this entire thing. Well, at least he wouldn’t have to repeat the details to her later.

“I have absolutely no interest in Mikasa, and I also have no idea where the hell you pulled that theory from.”

“I saw you whispering to her and scheming with her pretty much the whole night! Before we even got there, she called you and you ran off to get her and her punching bag of a brother.”

“What the fuck did you just say?” his voice dangerously low. Petra continued on, unfazed.

“Then, you had the balls to tell me to just go home with Mike and you go to Erwin’s with them. You practically gave me permission to sleep with Mike!”

“Unbelieveable, Petra. You are truly un-fucking-believable. I don’t even want to waste my time sitting here spewing the bullshit with you anymore, so get the hell out of my house you insufferable slut.”

She stood up abruptly and slapped Levi across the mouth. He raised his hand to his cheek and smiled as disturbingly as he could manage. Apparently, his method worked as Petra flinched away and looked extremely uncomfortable.

“Now,” he began slowly and quietly. “You are not going to go around my friends and sleep with all of them and break their hearts or I will find a way to make your life miserable.”

“You’re a complete dick, Levi. We are through!”

“You stole my line,” he replied evenly. “Now get the fuck out.”

She flung the door open and slammed it so hard the entire house shook and Levi was sure that the frame was probably damaged but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. He turned back to the kitchen to find that his tea was perfectly infused, and still hot.

\---

Hanji had arrived no less than five minutes after Petra had left. She opened the front door, walked into the kitchen, where Levi handed her a mug of tea, and the two leaned against counters and waited to see who would speak first. As always, Hanji didn’t disappoint.

“So are you like out of the closet now or…?”

Levi snorted in surprise, which was terrible since he had a mouth full of tea. The tea rushed up into his sinuses and he nearly puked from how much it hurt. He turned around and spat the remaining tea into the sink and just about coughed his lungs out trying to expel the tea he had aspirated. Hanji stifled a laugh and thumped him on the back a few times. When the coughing spell had ended and Levi felt he could breathe normally, he took a swing at his friend. She was ready for it though, and dodged it just in time. He growled and stomped out of the kitchen with Hanji laughing behind him.

“Take a joke, Levi, I was trying to lighten the mood.”

“What a shitty way to do it.”

They sat on the couch in silence and drank the oolong Levi had made prior to his argument with Petra. Levi sipped continuously at his while his eyes kept landing on his phone.

“Levi, what’s up with you?”

“What do you mean? I just broke up with my girlfriend, I’m not really going to jump around and smile.”

“Don’t pretend that you’re actually sad about that. I could believe that you are maybe a little regretful that you ever dated her since it ruined your friendship, but don’t try to tell me you’re upset it’s over.”

Levi cursed Hanji’s ability to sometimes be able to read farther into his life than he expected. She occasionally hit the nail directly on the head, and Levi hated it.

“Tell me or I’ll call Petra and tell her you want to apologize.”

“Alright, I’m worried.”

“About what?”

“Eren.”

Hanji suppressed a grin and urged him to continue speaking.

“Well, he found out his meathead boyfriend keeps hitting on girls around campus and Eren thinks that it’s enough leverage to get rid of him, but I think he’s just found a direct route to getting his ass kicked. I told him to call me if something happens, but I’m worried so many things are going to happen that he won’t be capable of calling,” Levi swallowed and avoided Hanji’s knowing eyes.

“Just wait until he calls and if he hasn’t called by dinner time, then shoot him a text or something.”

“I don’t know why I’m so fucking worried about someone I’ve known less than a week.”

 “Here’s the thing, Levi. I’m going to tell you something that I think you need to hear, and other people agree with me. I’ve tried being gentle about it, but you suck with discretion so I’m going to say it point-blank. You like Eren.”

“Well, yeah I like him. He’s a good kid.”

“Romantically, Levi.”

“I…what did you say? I’ve never heard of anybody liking anyone after four days. It’s ridiculous, like elementary school ridiculous.”

“Have you ever watched any movie in the history of ever? All the best romances are whirlwind affairs that just bloom out of nowhere and spark up this fantastic-“

“Shut the fuck up, you know I’m not even remotely like that so I have no idea why you’d even suggest something so…so…”

“True?”

He swiped at Hanji only to miss again.

“Hear me out at least before you try to kill me, Levi. Eren has piqued your interest ever since he drew that atrocious drawing and insulted his friend using ass humor, which is your main specialty. I’m fairly certain that the reason you like him so much is because he’s actually a lot like you, just somewhat more people friendly and more open about his emotions. You, my dear, are sometimes an emotionless vacuum and Eren has somehow breached that to make you actually give a damn. Plus, Eren is someone who needs to be fixed, which is a somewhat new role for you, since you’ve always been the one being fixed up by Erwin, or Petra, or me, or- wait Levi, where are you going?”

“Away from you. Make sure you lock the door.”

The door slammed almost as hard as when Petra had left, and he grimaced at the thought that the damage was probably even worse now. He had to get away from Hanji and all her pseudo-psychology bullshit because it was threatening to rip his brain in half from the amounts of conflicting information in his head.

A Starbucks was nearby, so Levi decided to head over there and get the biggest damn coffee he could and sit in there until Eren called him because this was what his life had now boiled down to, unfortunately. Waiting around for someone with a sadistic, psychotic boyfriend. Come to think of it, if he and Eren were to go out, the dynamic wouldn’t really change. He shook his head to clear that thought because he and Reiner were similar, but were also fundamentally different and he had to remember that.

\---

Dinner time had rolled past, and Levi hadn’t heard from Eren yet. Determined not to let his mind wander, he headed toward Eren’s apartment to see if maybe he was there. The ten minute walk was tense and filled with thoughts of Eren lying dead in his apartment, but Levi remembered that Mikasa lived there, too. The front of the building popped up before he knew it, and he didn’t see anything amiss. As he neared the door, a small bob of blond hair rushed out from the inside. Armin almost flew into Levi, but he stopped abruptly when he saw who was standing in front of him.

“L-Levi!”

“Armin. Is Eren home?”

“No, he uh, he’s out with Reiner,” Armin said with a flush. “They’re getting dinner. Eren was too afraid to break up with him.”

Levi sighed and rubbed his face, glad that Eren was potentially safer than previously thought, but also pissed off that he was out with Reiner. Eren’s relationship did not make any sense to Levi, and he was pretty sure it never would.

“Okay, thanks Armin. Where are you headed?”

Armin flushed scarlet and gave an extra nervous laugh.

“I’m, uh, going to drive over to Erwin’s place to have dinner.”

Levi smirked and let out a single sound of laughter. He knew Erwin would eventually win the kid over, and he was quick about it this time. Levi could see why though, as Armin was exceptionally adorable, if that was your thing. Erwin had to pick him up quick before someone else did.

“Have fun, kid.”

Armin mumbled out something unintelligible before dashing over to his car and screaming out of the parking lot in embarrassment. Levi watched until Armin was out of sight and then began walking back toward his home.

He was halfway past campus when he saw a couple sitting on bench nearby. Levi knew right away that it was Reiner and Eren without even having to give them a second glance. He would’ve been perfectly happy to continue walking, but Eren would see him and would most likely say something to him. On the other hand, there was no way to get to his house without walking past them. He finally decided to just walk as fast as possible and hope Eren didn’t notice.

It didn’t work.

“Levi?”

He stopped and swiveled his head around slowly to look at Eren. A glimmer of surprise lit up Eren’s eyes and his mouth started to spread in a grin. Reiner, however, had his mouth turned into an unpleasant frown like he had just smelled rotten fish.

“Hey Eren, nice night for a date.”

The sarcasm was laid on thick, and Levi hoped Eren would notice what he was trying to get at.

“Well, I figured it was better than any other plans I had earlier in the day,” Eren said carefully. Great, he was aware of the game. Speaking in this bizarre code was a safe bet for both parties, since they could get meaning across without alerting the blond beefcake next to Eren.

“I see. I ended up going through with my idea from this morning, even though other parties fell through on decisions that seemingly were for the best.”

Eren looked away guiltily and Reiner looked back and forth between them with a level of confusion that was creeping into irritation. Levi sensed this and decided he could banter with Eren later.

“Well, I didn’t mean to interrupt your night, Eren.”

He began walking slowly back to his house, but had gone about a hundred yards before he heard yelling.

“That’s one of those fuckers from the bar. How the hell do you know that guy?”

“He’s in my class, Reiner, chill out.”

“Chill out? I’ll bet he’s in that damn painting class that I told you drop like a week ago. Why the fuck don’t you listen, dammit!?”

Reiner took a step toward Eren, and Levi found himself taking a step closer, too, just in case.

“Why do you even care!? I know you’ve been hitting on girls when I’m not around. Why don’t you just break up with me and go fuck them?”

“I’ll do whatever I want, with whoever I want, including you. If I want to pick up chicks and screw around with you, then I’ll do just that.”

“I think you’re just afraid to admit you like dicks,” Eren spat.

Reiner yelled in frustration and ran toward Eren, who yelped and started to cower a little. A hand grabbed him roughly around the upper arm and swung him out of the way just before Reiner’s punch connected. Levi shoved Eren a few feet behind him and stalked toward Reiner, who subconsciously backed up a step. Always being the aggressor usually meant you were never prepared when the roles were reversed, and Reiner found himself not knowing to deal with this guy half his size barreling down on him with a murderous look in his eyes. He held his arms up at face level and prepared to punch Levi in the face, but Levi had other plans. He faked a punch at Reiner’s already covered face, causing Reiner to guard his face even more heavily. Levi then put all his weight on one leg and side kicked toward Reiner’s knee, making sure to apply just enough force to stagger him and not break the knee. As Reiner reached down toward his throbbing knee, Levi reached up and drove his fist into Reiner’s solar plexus. A whoosh of rushed of out of Reiner, and he fell to the ground with heavy thump. His breaths came ragged and heavy, and Levi saw a momentary look of fear in them before he replaced it with bravado.

“I’ll fuck you up, midget.”

“Seems to be going the other way, dickhead. Why don’t you prance your sorry ass out of here and leave Eren the fuck alone before I do some shit that will literally blow your mind?”

Reiner made a move to get up, but Levi rammed his elbow on the top of Reiner’s head and grabbed a fistful of hair afterward. He yanked Reiner’s face up to his and grinned maniacally.

“I could go all night, if you’d like,” a disturbed giggle floated out of Levi’s mouth and Reiner pulled viciously at the clump of hair holding his head up. Levi let him go and took a step forward, but Reiner scrambled to his feet and backed up several yards. He looked over Levi’s shoulder toward a trembling Eren and glared.

“Don’t even look at him,” Levi growled. “Get the fuck out of here.”

Reiner looked at Eren once more in defiance and then turned tail and scurried off toward his car. Levi sank to his knees and clenched his shaking hands into fists. He had come so close to losing control that it frightened him. Eren made a move to come closer but Levi put his hand up.

“Give me a second, Eren,” his voice was even shaking and he hated it. He didn’t want to have to tell Eren why was having such a visceral reaction to violence. After a minute or two, Levi felt a tentative hand on his shoulder and felt calm enough to let it remain there.

“Thank you,” he heard Eren breathe out. Levi stood up and brushed off his pants.

“Don’t tell Erwin.”

“What? Why would I tell him? Why shouldn’t I tell him?”

“I’ll explain later. Are you okay?”

Eren nodded and Levi was relieved. Once Levi had gained control of the rage, he turned on Eren and unleashed anger of a different sort.

“Why would you mouth off like that when you knew he would hurt you?”

“Because I’m tired of having to watch everything I say and censoring myself around someone who is supposed to love me!”

“You don’t even know what love is. If you think a guy who beats your ass and then apologizes by taking you out to lunch loves you then you are dead wrong. Love is supposed to be about caring for the other person and doing everything in your power to make sure they are safe. Love is about putting the other person first, even if it clashes with your own needs. If I loved someone, I would treat them like they were made of gold, not pound them into the ground like a piece of shit.”

“I’ve heard that love hurts, though.”

Levi chuckled a little at that. “Well, then some jackass like your boyfriend made that up as an excuse to hit people. Besides, I think that phrase means love hurts emotionally, like if that person doesn’t love you back or stops loving you. It doesn’t mean love punches you in the face with a fist as big as your head.”

Eren laughed at the imagery, and he felt any leftover anxiety melt away. When he stopped laughing, he noticed Levi was looking away from him across campus. Eren’s phone dinged and he sighed, knowing that it was probably going to be a threatening text. He wasn’t disappointed.

>I’m going to come by your apartment later, and you better hope that your little boyfriend or your sister isn’t around.

Levi asked Eren if he could read the text out loud, and Eren stifled a laugh when he saw Levi twitch at the word “little.”

“Is your sister home?”

“No, she said she was spending the night at Annie’s tonight.”

“Okay, don’t take this the wrong way. Since I don’t really think you should go back to your apartment, do you want to stay over at my place? I have a pull out couch like Erwin does, but this time you can have it all to yourself.”

“But what about Armin?”

“Erwin will take care of him.”

“Gross.”

Levi typed out a message to Erwin telling him about the situation and that he should keep Armin there overnight. The response was exceedingly jovial and Levi walled his mind off from the possible reasons behind the cheer. He looked over to Eren, who was distracted by a chittering dray of squirrels and smiling absently at them. Levi touched Eren’s elbow lightly and nodded his head in the direction of his house when Eren looked over. They both headed toward the duplex as Levi wondered what he was getting himself into.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The smut is near kids. I'm changing the rating for the next chapter probably, so be ready.


	13. Pizza Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Smut ahead, folks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry in advance for this smut. While I am an avid reader of smut, I am horribly inept at writing the smut. Truly, I have no idea how good or how bad this chapter is so I apologize in advance.
> 
> Warning: May cause you to die from secondhand embarrassment. I repeat: awkwardness dead ahead. Ellipses for days because of nervousness.

The walk to Levi’s apartment was silent on Eren’s part because he was so damn nervous. What if he accidentally did something that showed how much he liked Levi? What if Levi thought he was a nuisance? _What if he farted in his sleep?_

By the time he was about to have a full mental break from panicking, they had reached Levi’s place. Eren was surprised to see that it was actually a house and not an apartment. He looked over to the left and saw newspapers everywhere. Eren couldn’t imagine Levi putting up with that, so he asked who else lived there.

“Hanji, of course,” Levi growled.

They walked inside and Eren wished his apartment looked as nice as this one. The floors were a dark cherry hardwood and the walls were a medium-gray that made the charcoal couches look almost black. It was kind of intimidating, but Eren assumed that was how Levi wanted it. He pulled out his wallet and keys and set them on the entry table. Then he kicked his shoes in front of the door before walking over to the couch and tentatively sitting down.

“Did you eat already when you were out?”

Eren shook his head.

“He can’t even fucking feed you at least, Christ,” he mumbled. “Is pizza okay?”

“Yeah can we get pepperoni?” Eren smiled hopefully.

“Your half can be pepperoni. You’re like a little kid.”

Eren flushed as Levi turned away and ordered a large pizza with half pepperoni and half veggie with sausage added on.

“No black olives. If I find even one black olive on it, dammit, I’m coming up there. You don’t want me to come up there.”

He hung up and tossed the phone on the couch next to Eren before walking in to the kitchen and putting the teapot on. He came back out and turned on the TV.

“Are you about to eat pizza and drink tea with it?” Eren wrinkled his nose in disgust.

“Are you about to say something against it?” Levi replied dangerously.

Eren shook his head and scratched the back of his neck. He stood up and edged over to a media tower that held an enormous amount of DVDs. Each shelf held a different genre of movie, and the movies within each genre were alphabetized. Eren ran his fingers over the spines and debated which scary one he wanted to watch. He selected one that had less gore and more thrill since they were going to be eating shortly. Eren wasn’t really in the mood to eat a slice of pizza while watching someone’s intestines pour out of their abdomen. Levi tossed him the remote as he put the DVD into the player and sat back on the couch. They sat on opposite ends with a single cushion space between them. The teapot rested on a coaster that Levi had put over toward his side of the glass coffee table after Eren had wrinkled his nose.

The movie started with a shrill scream and Eren was torn between jumping in surprise and laughing at how fake it was, so he did both. Levi cracked a grin at him and turned up the volume. They watched for about fifteen minutes before the doorbell rang.

“I pay, you fetch,” Levi said, handing the money over to Eren as he motioned toward the door.

“I could’ve paid,” Eren grumbled.

“Go get the pizza before its cold.”

Eren stomped over to the door, grumbling and mumbling the whole ten steps it took to get there. Flinging open the door, he was met with a semi-familiar face.

“Aren’t you in my World History class? You sit with that girl who eats all the time.”

The boy laughed. “Yeah that’s me, I’m Connie. My friend Sasha is the one that eats all the time.”

“Cool. Well, here’s the money. Keep it all.”

“Thanks a lot, man! I’ll see you on Monday. Maybe we can all hang out or something. You and your blond friend can come sit with us.”

“Sounds great! See you around, man!” Connie handed him the pizza and took off with a wave.

Eren turned back into the living room with a smile on his face and looked over to Levi, who had paused the movie and looked a little irritated. He decided to ignore it and headed into the kitchen, where he set the pizza on the counter and began opening cabinet doors to look for plates.

“Levi, where are your plates?” he shouted.

“Next one to the right,” came the response from directly behind him. Eren jolted in surprise but followed the direction and grabbed two plates. He turned around and saw Levi giving him a weird look.

“What’s the matter?”

“Got a little flirty with the pizza boy?”

“Wow, no. I wasn’t flirting at all. He’s not my type, anyway. He’s even shorter than you are!”

Obviously this was the wrong thing to say because Levi growled and snatched the plate out of Eren’s hands.

“Look, I don’t know why you’re all irritable all of a sudden, but since you broke up with Petra, I kind of assumed she wasn’t going to want Armin and me sitting next to her anymore. I don’t think she even really liked me in the first place.”  

“She didn’t.”

“Well, there you go. We weren’t going to have anyone to sit by. Why does it even matter?”

“It doesn’t.”

“Great, then let’s eat. I’m tired of worrying about other people’s irrational emotions.”

With that, Eren brushed past Levi, leaving the latter standing alone in the kitchen feeling like an asshole. He hadn’t meant to get angry, but Eren’s cheery tone with the delivery boy forced an unfamiliar flash of jealousy to spring up unexpectedly. Now he’d been lumped in with Eren’s (ex?) boyfriend again, and he hated it. He grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and slid a piece of pizza onto his plate before walking back out into the living room.

“Eren.”

Eren looked back and grudgingly caught the water bottle Levi had thrown to him. He murmured his thanks and turned back toward the TV. Levi sat down and grabbed the remote, pausing the movie.

“Hey! Turn it back on!”

“Eren, listen to me. I didn’t mean to be an ass.”

“It’s okay.”

“No, it isn’t. I’m sorry. Don’t allow people to be assholes to you anymore.”

Eren turned to look at him and nodded. Satisfied, Levi unpaused the movie and the two spent the rest of it making fun of how cheesy it was and destroying four slices of pizza each.

\---

They were halfway through the third movie when Eren said something to Levi and didn’t get a response. He glanced over to see Levi scrunched up with his head on the armrest and his hands pillowed underneath his head. A smile forced its way onto Eren’s face as he grabbed both plates and walked into the kitchen to clean them. Once he placed them in the drying rack, he walked back out to the living room to find Levi still sleeping and he was torn on what to do. On one hand, he didn’t want to wake Levi up because he was obviously tired. On the other hand, the pull-out was still hidden within the couch, so Eren had nowhere to sleep. The obvious decisions were to either wake Levi up or go sleep in his bed. Eren chose neither of those and decided to lose all rational thought instead.

He knelt down and gently stuck one hand under Levi’s shoulders and fished the other arm underneath his knees and turned Levi so he was facing up toward the ceiling. Eren waited a few seconds to see if Levi would stir, but he didn’t so Eren pulled him closer to get a better grip. Once he felt like he had Levi secure, he pushed off using his back foot and hoisted Levi up. He shifted Levi’s weight around until dropping him was no longer a concern. Taking a second to look down at him, Eren swallowed hard and felt his bottled up feelings burst through their barriers. Levi’s face was so calm, with a hint of a wrinkle between his eyebrows from scowling so much. His face was turned in toward Eren’s upper arm and his hand was resting near Eren’s sternum with his index finger twitching every so often. A soft sigh slipped through his lips as Eren had adjusted him and he couldn’t believe he hadn’t realized sooner just how pretty Levi was.

After allowing himself a few moments to stare at his friend, Eren headed toward the back bedroom to deposit him. Unfortunately, Levi’s cleanliness ruined Eren’s plans. The bed was perfectly made, with an exorbitant number of fancy pillows bunched up near the top covering the edge of the comforter. He knew he couldn’t juggle holding Levi and trying to fix this Martha Stewart nightmare without waking Levi up. He figured his best chance would be to lay him down and then try to undo the blanket.

It didn’t matter though, because the second Levi’s back hit the bed, his eyes shot open and he grabbed the front of Eren’s shirt in panic. His eyes darted around the room until they landed on Eren’s shocked face.

“What the fuck?” he whispered softly.

“Shh, you fell asleep so I brought you in here, sorry I woke you up.”

“You carried me in here?”

“Sorry if it’s making you uncomfortable, but I wanted you to sleep-“

“Thank you.”

Eren looked down at Levi’s face and saw his eyes widened at the thought of someone doing something so kind. He noticed that Levi’s hands were still fisted around his shirt near his collarbones and he couldn’t pull back. His pulse accelerated when he realized the proximity of their faces. He had a sudden desire to kiss him so badly but he wasn’t sure how Levi would respond to that, seeing as how he had broken up with his girlfriend less than twelve hours ago. Eren knew his breath was gross from eating pizza, so he moved his mouth to hover over Levi’s forehead before reaching forward and planting a soft kiss there.

“No, thank _you_ for saving me earlier,” he breathed out slowly. Levi’s fists tightened ever so slightly on Eren’s shirt.

“I’d do it again in a heartbeat,” he whispered in a voice so quiet, Eren wasn’t even sure he’d heard it.

Eren didn’t know what to do because right now his heart was threatening to fly out of his chest and flop onto the floor. They were so close that Eren could reach down and kiss him, but he was still convinced that his feelings were unrequited. After a moment of remaining in that position, Eren heard Levi’s quiet voice.

“Eren, look at me.”

He swallowed hard and glanced at Levi, whose eyes were apprehensive. Levi ran his tongue over his bottom lip and Eren had to strain not to make any noise. Eren unconsciously leaned forward a little but stopped himself when he realized what he was doing. Before he could pull away, Levi stretched his head forward and their lips met. Eren yanked his head away and bit his lip nervously. A flash of hurt showed on Levi’s face but he quickly snapped into his usual apathetic expression.

“What’s wrong?”

“I have pizza breath,” Eren answered lamely. Levi gave him an incredulous look.

“What a terrible excuse, so do I, moron.”

“I-I don’t want to lose you. I don’t want this to happen and then later you realize how gross it was and then you won’t talk to me because it’s weird and-“

“Will you shut up? Do you think I haven’t agonized over the _exact same thing_? I thought I was straight until literally right now.”

Eren laughed a little at this and looked down at Levi, who had a small smile on his face.

“Promise you won’t regret anything?” Eren whispered.

“Promise.”

Levi leaned up and kissed Eren again, pulling Eren completely onto the bed when he did so. He flipped Eren over and straddled his hips, then bent forward and gently placed little kisses on the side of Eren’s mouth. Eren flushed when he felt his pants tighten because he was still worried that Levi would come to his senses and freak out. He felt the tip of Levi’s tongue dart out and run across his lips and he couldn’t suppress the soft moan that bubbled in his throat. He reached up to grab the hem of Levi’s shirt and gently lifted it up. Levi raised his arms and snaked the shirt over his head. He tossed the shirt across the room, looked down at Eren, and froze.

“Levi?”

“I…I don’t know…”

“If you want to stop, that’s okay,” Eren said softly.

“It’s not that, I just…I don’t know what to do,” the last part was so quiet Eren had to strain to hear it. The sudden urge to grin was so strong that he barely had time to control it.

“I can show you… if you want.”

Levi nodded and leaned back as Eren sat up. He adjusted his hips to settle in Eren’s lap and then tilted his head up. Eren smiled and ran the back of his hand from Levi’s temple to his chin, then pulled him forward and kissed him. Levi reached his hands up behind Eren’s head to deepen the kiss and ran his fingers through Eren’s hair, eliciting a sigh from the younger. He dragged his hands down the back of Eren’s neck, around his shoulders, and let them stop at the top button of his shirt. Rolling the button between his thumb and forefinger, he looked back up at Eren with half-lidded eyes. Eren was nearly shaking with anticipation and they hadn’t really even done anything yet. The thought made Levi want to smile, but he held it back.

The first few buttons popped through their openings easily, but Levi began fumbling with the last three when he realized just how inexperienced and nervous he was. Eren chuckled and undid the last one before rubbing his hands up and down Levi’s arms and kissing him gently. When he noticed Levi was a little more relaxed, he slid his hands down to the top button on Levi’s jeans. With a quick twist of his hand, he deftly released the button and undid the zipper. He gradually reached his hand between the jeans and boxers and swiped his thumb across the head of Levi’s dick. Levi jolted in response and laid his head on Eren’s shoulder with a soft sigh. Eren leaned down and pressed his lips to Levi’s neck, sucking on the spot in time with the motions of his hand. A rush of breath left Levi, and he suddenly reared back and rolled on his back, yanking off his pants and boxers before swinging back up on his knees and undoing the zipper on Eren’s pants. Eren readily wormed out of his clothes, and turned around to gather all the pillows and prop them in a pile.

“Lay on your back against these.”

Levi complied and looked at Eren with a confused look. Eren grabbed Levi’s ankles and swung his legs out before bending them at the knee and resting both forearms on Levi’s inner thighs. It was a little restrictive, and Levi found he couldn’t move his legs without hurting Eren.  A smile graced Eren’s mouth, but he was trying to hide it by biting his lip.

“Levi, this is the only time I’m going to ask if you are 100% positive that you’re gay.”

“Are you fucking kidding me right now?”

Eren laughed and wrapped his hand around Levi’s shaft, giving it a little squeeze before slowly pumping near the base. He lowered his head and licked from base to head, maintaining eye contact the entire time. Levi’s head rolled back as he let out a low growl. Eren swirled his tongue around the head then dipped his head down, going as far down as he could without gagging. He pulled back and looked up at Levi, whose eyes were smoldering down at him. Eren bobbed his head up and down while dragging his tongue back and forth on the underside of Levi’s cock. Levi’s breath left him in harsh pants as he tried to not come immediately at the sight of Eren ruining him with his tongue. Eren brushed over a particularly sensitive spot and Levi jerked, trying to bring his legs closer together to lower the intensity, but Eren pressed his forearms down and stopped it.

Levi emitted a mix between a low whine and a growl as Eren licked the head and held Levi’s legs down, which instantly made everything more sensitive. He lowered his hands down to Eren’s hair and ran his fingers through it. After a minute or two, he frantically tugged at Eren’s hair until Eren pulled his mouth off of Levi’s dick and lazily stroked it.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t want to come yet. It’s your turn.”

“Levi, I don’t want you to do this stuff too soon.”

“What do you mean?”

“We’re not having sex tonight.”

“But-“

“No. I want to ease into it. You’ll feel more comfortable and it won’t be so much pressure. Besides, there are _plenty_ of other ways to get off.”

Eren got up on his knees and motioned for Levi and him to switch places. It was a little difficult for Levi to move on account of his throbbing erection, but he managed in the end. Eren rolled onto his back and pulled Levi between his legs.

“Okay, give me your fingers.”

“What?”

Eren grabbed Levi’s right hand and stuck three fingers in his own mouth. He ran his tongue around all three before licking slowly between each one. He took Levi’s wrist and slowly pulled them out before running his tongue from nail to base. Levi grunted impatiently and Eren smirked as he tugged Levi’s wrist down. Drawing his knees upward, he led Levi’s fingers further down toward his entrance. Levi began to look a little nervous, but Eren smiled.

“It’s not going to hurt me, I promise,” Eren reassured.

He dragged Levi’s finger across and then directed the tip of his index finger in. A gasp escaped Eren’s mouth as Levi took initiative and slowly pushed his finger in to the knuckle. He clumsily moved it around and slowly added another. Eren mimicked the “come here” motion and Levi imitated it, earning a loud groan from Eren. He rolled his finger against one spot that made Eren almost shriek. Levi stopped hesitantly.

“No, p-please do it again,” Eren panted.

Levi complied and watched as Eren melted under his touch. He rubbed the spot back and forth, up and down until Eren was begging for release. After adding the third finger, Levi reached down and grabbed Eren’s neglected cock that had been throbbing and pulsing for the last few minutes. He ran his hand slowly up the shaft, and a high whine sounded from Eren. Levi thrust his fingers in and out of Eren as he pumped Eren’s dick erratically.

“Look at you, Eren. Just look at you,” Levi breathed out.

“Levi, oh m-my G-God.”

He sped up his pace and thrust his fingers into Eren so hard he was a little worried it would hurt, but Eren’s screaming was definitely not from pain. Right when he knew he had Eren worked up to his climax, he leaned forward and brushed his lips against Eren’s. The sweetness of the kiss contrasted with how hard he was getting fingerfucked and sent Eren over the edge as he cried out into Levi’s mouth, spilling himself over Levi’s hand and chest. Levi continued moving his fingers slowly inside of Eren, and he occasionally brushed Eren’s prostate, causing violent waves of aftershock.

“That was amazing,” Eren murmured. He made a move to get up, but Levi pulled his fingers out slowly and stopped him.

“Stay like that.”

“Why?”

Eren pulled his knees back up to his chest and watched as Levi sat back on his own knees and slowly began to pump his throbbing erection. Levi growled when Eren dragged his fingers through the mess he had made on his chest and slowly licked his fingers clean.

“Don’t you want me to do that for you?” Eren mumbled lazily as he lapped at his fingertips.

“You fucking stay right there and don’t move,” Levi whispered.

Eren continued to goad Levi on by running his fingers around his entrance and occasionally sticking the tip of finger in. He watched as Levi came undone simply from watching Eren tease himself. A loud shout ripped from Levi’s mouth as he shot over Eren’s stomach and lower chest. The force of it caused Levi to fall forward and catch himself on his hands. He leaned down and kissed Eren softly as he ran a hand through Eren’s hair. He pressed his forehead to Eren’s and bit his lip to try and hide his smile.

“Are you convinced now that I’m gay?”

Eren laughed heartily at that and Levi allowed himself the first real smile in what seemed like an eternity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you so much for the comments, kudos, bookmarks, etc.


	14. The Row

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Somehow this fic has become 0% about college and has morphed into this strange fight club fic. Not entirely sure how it happened, but I'm rolling with it. Minor fluff, Levi fighting and then more Levi fighting. The plot thickens.

Levi woke to the quiet sound of his phone ringing. He reached a hand out and grappled for the device. His fingers enclosed around the phone and he answered the call right before it went to voicemail.

“Hello?”

“There’s that voice I’ve missed so much.”

Levi froze. This was a voice he hadn’t heard in three years. He slowly sat up in bed and looked over to Eren, who was sleeping angelically. Levi gently pulled back the covers and tiptoed out of the room, softly closing the door behind him. He stalked out to the living room and growled into the phone.

“What the fuck do you want, Dawk?”

“What kind of greeting is that, Levi? I only wanted to let you know of an opportunity that’s coming up. There’s a new guy rising in the ranks, and word is, he’s stronger than you. Want to come check him and out and then put him down?”

“No. I’m done. You know that.”

“Ah ah ah. Now, he’s a real big kid. One of those crazy Aryan ones that rolls around every so often. You know, the ones you used to destroy?”

“Stop trying to bait me, Dawk. I’m friends with a burly Aryan guy and if I recall he beat your ass when you wouldn’t let me leave that shithole. I can kindly send him over there with a similar message, if you’d like.”

“Fine. But if you feel the need to see your replacement, he’s fighting tonight at 7.”

The line went dead and Levi fought the urge to hurl the phone across the room. He turned around to head back to his bedroom when he ran straight into Eren.

“Levi,” Eren said in the middle of a huge yawn while rubbing his eyes. “What’re you doing?”

“Some telemarketer woke me up and I had to remind them why I’m on the No Call List, but I didn’t want to wake you up so I came out here.”

Eren nodded and smiled down at Levi before placing a kiss on his forehead. Levi ruffled Eren’s hair in response and walked into the kitchen to make tea.

“What are you doing today, Eren?”

“Uh nothing really, why?”

“Well, I figured we could go get lunch. I have something to do around 7, but we can hang out until then.”

Eren’s phone rang and he answered it without checking the caller ID.

“Hello?”

“Eren, listen I’m sorry about yesterday. Can we get lunch?”

“No, Reiner. I kind of figured you would realize that we aren’t together anymore.”

Levi’s head snapped over to watch Eren from the kitchen. Eren paced nervously around the living room as he gripped the phone.

“What? I never said I wanted to break up-“

“Well, I did!” Eren shouted. “You hit me all the time, and yell at me and make me feel like I’m a piece of shit and I’m sick of it!” His voice broke toward the end and he held in the sobs that threatened to burst out.

“Eren, baby-“

“No! You never loved me! People treat their _dogs_ better than you treated me. You aren’t supposed to act that way toward someone you love. It was all a lie.”

“If you weren’t so damn attractive I wouldn’t have to keep you on such a tight leash!”

“Don’t try to compliment me. Don’t call me again or I’ll have fifteen people kick your ass the way you’ve kicked mine.”

Eren hung up and threw the phone against the wall with a scream. He rubbed his face with his hands and tried really hard not to let any tears fall. Crying in front of Levi was not something he particularly wanted to do. He felt a nudge on his shoulder and peeked through his fingers to see Levi holding up a cup with tea with a worried expression.

“I’m really proud of you,” Levi whispered.

Those words opened the floodgates and Eren felt himself give into a wracking sob. The relief that he had finally severed ties with Reiner overwhelmed him. After two years of the tyranny and fear that Reiner instilled, Eren was free. Free to make his own decisions and live his own life. He clung to the cup of tea and bit the inside of his cheek to prevent further crying.

“I’ll kick his ass anytime you need me to,” Levi said with a small smile.

Eren laughed at this, and a final tear rolled down his cheek. He wiped it away and took a sip of tea.

“I’m more relieved than upset,” he confided.

“I know. It’s really liberating, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. Have you ever had something that made you feel so shitty and then you get rid of it and the possibilities are just everywhere?”

“Yeah I have, just not a romantic relationship. It was just as fucked up, though. Come on, let’s go get lunch.”

\---

After lunch, Mikasa called Eren and asked if he wanted to hang out. He put Mikasa on hold and turned toward Levi.

“Do you care if I go hang out with Mikasa?”

“Why would I care, Eren? Why are you even asking me?”

“I don’t know, old habits die hard, I guess,” he muttered as he told Mikasa he’d be home in about twenty minutes. When he hung up, he noticed Levi looking at him.

“What?” he asked self-consciously.

“Nothing, I’m just wondering when you’re going to realize that you can do or say whatever you want and not have to worry about repercussions.”

Eren flushed at this and looked away. He was freshly out of his shitty relationship and was still getting used to the freedoms it was bringing. Levi smiled and ruffled Eren’s hair.

“Want me to drive you to your apartment?”

“No, I can walk, it’s nice out.”

“If anything thing happens, call me. If he shows up, call me. Don’t try to be your own hero, okay?”

“Why because you want to be?” Eren teased.

“Tch,” Levi scoffed and tried to hide the pale pink that flitted across his cheeks. “You better get going or you’re going to be late.”

Eren laughed and went to kiss Levi on the forehead, but Levi had other ideas. He grabbed the back of Eren’s head and pressed their lips together in a chaste kiss.

“Be safe,” he whispered as they pulled apart. Eren nodded and walked off toward his apartment. Levi waited until Eren was out of sight and then headed toward campus. Rose Studios was fairly close, so he was there in a matter of minutes. He walked down the long hallway and entered the back room where they had studio three times a week. A light laugh sounded from the room right before he stepped over the threshold. He turned the corner to see Hanji and Erwin in the room.

“Levi! Have a good night?” she asked with a knowing smile.

He turned and began to walk right back out, but Erwin’s firm hand stopped him.

“She’s joking, Levi. We’re glad you’re happy. Come on and talk with us for a bit.”

Levi sat down at Eren’s usual station and looked at the blank canvas that was set up. He wasn’t even in the mood for painting; he just wanted to be alone and think about how his life had magically done a 180˚ in the last twenty-four hours. Erwin sat next to him and began silently drawing out his ideas on the canvas. Levi decided to do the same, and he allowed the pencil to just go where it wanted. After a few minutes, he noticed Erwin looking out the corner of his eye.

“What?” Levi snapped.

“Why do you seem irritated?”

“Because Eren isn’t around, duh!” Hanji cackled from across the room. Levi growled and chucked a dry paintbrush at her, which missed by several feet.

“Dawk called me this morning,” he said evenly.

Erwin regarded him with an apprehensive look. “What did he want?”

“Says some new kid is stronger than me or some shit, but who cares?”

“You, obviously.”

“I just feel like he’s trying to challenge me, and I don’t like it.”

“Levi, don’t get back into this. You have things going well for you in life, don’t mess them up,” Erwin pleaded.

“I’m not! I just want to take a look at the up-and-comer. No one will even know I’m there.”

Erwin sighed and shook his head while Hanji tried a different approach.

“Does Eren know about The Row?”

“No, and he won’t. Ever.”

“Then don’t reopen a closed chapter in your life.”

Levi frowned and began adding color to his drawing. He kept hoping that painting would make him come to his senses and agree with his friends, but the dominant part of his brain wanted to crush this kid. Hanji turned on some calm music that sounded like Celtic chanting, and Erwin made small talk about class.

“So how did everything go with Petra?”

Hanji began laughing and Levi rattled the story off to Erwin. Erwin laughed when he heard about Petra’s misunderstanding about Mikasa.

“Yeah, she called me and screamed for about five minutes until I told her I knew about Mike, too. Then she told me to fuck off and hung up,” Erwin laughed out.

“You know,” Hanji began. “Petra knew about your past, so I don’t think it’s fair for you to hide it from Eren.”

Levi stood up abruptly and laid his paintbrush down before glancing at what he had painted. He hadn’t even realized what he was drawing, but now he was a little embarrassed. A large eye took up the small canvas, and though it wasn’t completed, Levi already knew whose eye it was. Bright blue, turquoise, and aqua had been blended to create the iris. He had added thick, dark lashes and a heavy set brown eyebrow that arched right past the apex of the eye. Erwin looked over and laughed again, which caused Hanji to dart over and take a look. She grinned at Levi and wiggled her eyebrows.

“Someone’s got it bad, huh?”

Levi glared at her before storming out of the room. He heard his friends yell their goodbyes through their laughter, but he didn’t respond.

\---

Near seven o’clock, Levi grabbed a dark sweatshirt and sat down on the couch to wrap his knuckles. Not that he thought he would do any fighting, but it was always good to be safe. When he was finished, he walked back toward campus and the Three Sisters, but passed it up in favor of the alley he had spared Eren and Co. from the night they all went out. He walked over to a heavy steel door and looked around to see if anyone had followed him. When he decided it was safe, he yanked it open and slid inside. The hallway was dark, as usual, but there was a door at the end that had light illuminating the frame. He rapped his knuckles on the door and it swung open slowly. A huge man filled the frame and glared down at him before recognizing him and pulling him in.

“Levi! Haven’t seen you around here in a while.”

“Been trying to lay off this stuff, if you know what I mean.”

The man gave a hearty laugh and pointed over to where Dawk was. Levi made his way over and stood next to him.

“I knew you’d come.”

“Where is this kid?”

“He’s up next,” Dawk said with a smirk.

Levi watched as the lights dimmed and spotlights shone on the ring. He rolled his eyes at how much this guy was getting played up, but he remembered the same routine had gone on for him, too. He was expecting the roar of the crowd and the runners to make the circle taking bets, but what he wasn’t expecting was Eren’s ex-boyfriend to haul himself up into the ring and look around the crowd. Levi met his eyes and Reiner grinned in a terrible imitation of the way Levi had smiled the previous night. When Reiner turned away to talk to his coach, Levi turned to Dawk with a sneer.

“I already beat that kid up in public.”

“What?” Watching the smirk fall from Dawk’s face was almost as satisfying as fighting itself.

“He was punching his boyfriend, so I kicked his ass.”

“Well, why don’t we have a little rematch?”

Levi was beginning to wonder if this had been Dawk’s intent all along. Dawk knew that once Levi was here, he would want to fight; the fact that Reiner and Levi knew each other was simply an added bonus. Reiner’s opponent had yet to take the stage, and Dawk was staring at Levi with a mischievous look. The thought of destroying the man who had been abusing Eren for the last two years was extremely tempting, and Levi was having trouble thinking of reasons why he shouldn’t. He sucked in a deep breath and pulled off his sweatshirt. Dawk’s face split into a grin and he led Levi over to the referee table. Shadis, the oldest and most experienced ref was there overlooking some numbers. He looked up when they approached and shot Levi a confused look.

“What the hell are you doing back here?”

“This is truly my last time. I know that kid and he needs his ass kicked.”

Shadis shook his head and penciled something down on the paper before turning to the other refs.

“Well, you’ve lucked out. This kid’s opponent sprained his ankle in training and doesn’t want to risk further damage. You haven’t warmed up, though.”

“I don’t need to.”

“Levi,” Shadis warned.

“I’m fine. Let’s get this show on the road. I’ve got someone to see after this.”

Dawk shot him a surprised look, but Levi ignored it. He pulled his shirt off and cracked his knuckles before climbing up into the ring. The sound that rolled around from the audience was deafening when they realized Levi was up there. He had garnered an extreme reputation in the years past, and apparently it hadn’t been forgotten. The runners began taking more bets, and Levi wanted to laugh at the intimidating look Reiner was trying to give him. Shadis hopped up in the ring and tapped the mic.

“Ladies and Gents, we have a little surprise for you. I’m sure you’ve noticed Levi dropped in for a visit and he has some personal shit with our rising rookie.”

He turned to the fighters and looked them both in the eye.

“No hits to the nuts, understand? And,” he looked Levi directly in the face, “do not kill each other.”

Levi grinned and felt himself slipping into the mania that could only be brought on by fighting. He was almost positive it was some basic brain function that was wired incorrectly, because he had no flight or fight response. It was simply fight or fight. He enjoyed seeing what he could do to other people and watch the fear flash across their face when they realized they were losing. It fueled his aggression even more.

Shadis stepped back and stuck his arm between Levi and Reiner. He pulled the whistle to his mouth and counted down from 5, blowing the whistle and raising his arm at the end. Levi stepped forward while Reiner stepped back. Levi already knew he would win this fight, but he had to remember not to kill this kid.

Reiner charged forward and swung at him, but Levi grabbed his wrist and pulled it forward. Reiner jerked toward Levi, who swung his leg up and kicked Reiner’s side. Reiner grunted in pain but charged again. Levi stepped aside and landed a punch as Reiner stumbled forward. Reiner turned and swung again at Levi. He parried the blow, but Reiner’s long arm still connected to his mouth and split his lower lip. The punch was much softer than if it hadn’t been parried, but blood still trickled down Levi’s chin. He narrowed his eyes and parried another blow that came at him. This time, he punched Reiner’s forearm and threw a series of blows to Reiner’s body. He swung his hand upward to Reiner’s throat, which gagged his opponent. Levi swept his legs underneath Reiner and forced him to topple to the ground still choking for breath. Levi went to put Reiner in a headlock and further deprive him of air, but Reiner surprised him by swinging up and barely missing Levi’s face.

“When I knock you out, I’m going to go find Eren and fuck him until he can’t stand,” Reiner spat.

Levi snarled at that and swung a punch right in Reiner’s unprepared face. Blood gushed from Reiner’s nose and he reared back to clutch it while trying to blindly swing at Levi. Levi didn’t give him an opportunity to get his bearings, and swung another punch that connected. Red was dripping down into Levi’s field of vision and he wasn’t sure if it was a mental thing because he was livid or if he was actually bleeding. He swung again and felt the satisfying crunch of bone underneath his knuckles. Reiner wasn’t moving and Levi could hear Shadis blowing the whistle, but his hand had a mind of its own because it swung again and hit Reiner so hard he rolled a few feet away. Levi felt Shadis grab him and throw him back across the ring, where two large hands clamped onto either side of him. He turned to see Erwin glaring at him with a positively murderous look on his face but he couldn’t find it in him to care. Shadis pulled Reiner to the corner stool and checked his pulse and breathing, verified that he was still alive and then declared the fight. Shouts roared around Levi, but all he could think about was how to make sure Reiner never was able to touch Eren again. 


	15. Anniversary

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo... I got worked up a little thinking about my own mother dying and me having to go through that. Have fun with this. 
> 
> This chapter is a little bipolar and is sort of a filler until we get to the angst. Which is next. :D Fluff dead ahead!

Dawk handed Levi an enormous wad of cash as Erwin dragged him along by the upper arm.

“See you later, Levi!” he called out.

“No, you won’t,” Erwin snarled. Levi just laughed and waved at the shouting audience, who chanted his name as he left. The adrenaline was still freely pumping in his system and he hadn’t come to his senses yet. Erwin flung the door open and roughly shoved Levi out into the balmy autumn air.

“What the _fuck_ were you thinking?”

“Ooh, somebody’s cranky,” Levi sang.

“Dammit, snap out of your psycho shit and get a grip on reality!” Erwin shouted as he shook Levi by the shoulders. He was about to slap Levi across the face when Erwin felt his phone vibrate. He pulled it out to see a text from Armin.

>Eren wants to hang out with Levi, so please try to make sure he is sane before Eren calls him. I’m trying to delay him as much as possible.

Erwin cursed and turned to Levi.

“Eren wants to hang out with you, but I doubt you want him to see you like this.”

The mention of Eren stopped Levi’s childish laughter instantly. Erwin watched as Levi struggled to overcome the cloud of combat that blurred reality for him. They both heard Levi’s phone ring, but Erwin snatched it out of Levi’s hands and held it high above his head.

“You can’t talk to him until you are back to normal.”

“I’m fucking back to normal you fuck,” Levi snapped. Erwin handed him the phone and Levi frantically answered the call.

“Eren?”

“Levi! Um, are you busy?”

“I’m just finishing up something, but you can come over in about thirty minutes, is that okay?”

“Yeah!” Eren’s bubbly voice danced through the phone and Levi had to suppress a grin at his enthusiasm.

“Do you need me to come get you?”

“I can walk.”

“No. I’ll come get you.”

“Actually, Mikasa said she can drop me off because she’s going to hang out with Annie, so don’t worry.”

“Okay, I’ll see you when you get here.”

“Bye!”

Levi hung up the phone and looked over to Erwin, who was still glaring harshly at him.

“You’re going to mess him up even more,” he said flatly.

“He’ll never know. This was seriously my last time.”

“Don’t you see why this was wrong?” Erwin’s voice was becoming exasperated, and Levi knew not to screw around when it got like that.

“I don’t, actually. That guy ruined Eren so I ruined him. I don’t entirely see the issue. An eye for an eye.”

“You could have killed him, Levi. What would Eren have done if you killed his boyfriend?”

“Ex-boyfriend.”

Erwin sighed and pushed Levi toward the car. Both got in and Erwin drove the ten minutes to Levi’s apartment. Levi got out and turned to Erwin.

“Aren’t you going to come in and lecture me some more?”

“No, you are a big boy and can take care of yourself. I’ve got someone waiting for me to go spend time with them.”

Levi smirked and let out a snort of laughter.

“Have fun with your boy toy.”

“You too,” Erwin joked. “Don’t ruin this for yourself, Levi.”

Levi grunted and shut the car door, waving Erwin off. He trudged inside and felt the throbbing of his lip as the last of his adrenaline wore off. After counting and pocketing his money, he walked into the bathroom and inspected the offending wound. A laceration curled from his lower lip to the upper in a diagonal line. He could feel the inside was cut, too, from where his lip had been pinched by his teeth. It wasn’t deep enough to need stitching or anything, but it definitely needed to be cleaned. Grabbing the peroxide, he poured some onto a cotton ball and dabbed it onto his lip. It bubbled up and lifted the dirt from the cut, which he then rinsed off. His hands were cut and bloody, but a quick wash cleaned that up nicely since it wasn't his blood. He glanced up in the mirror and sighed in disappointment at himself.

A timid knock on the door caused him to cut his pity party short, and he walked over to the door and flung it open. Eren stood there with a sheepish grin on his face.

“S-Sorry I’m here early. Mikasa was anxious to get over to Annie’s and-“

Levi grabbed the front of Eren’s shirt and yanked him down for a kiss. He ran his hands up Eren’s shoulders and twisted them in his hair. Eren let out a soft moan, and Levi pulled away and sighed.

“What happened to your lip?!”

“Nice to see you, too.”

“Seriously, Levi, what happened?”

“Hanji threw a paint bottle at me and hit me in the mouth.”

Eren looked at him skeptically.

“Are you lying to me?”

Levi gulped and weighed the options of telling the truth versus lying to protect Eren. Telling Eren meant forcing himself to open up before he was ready, but he didn’t want to lie and push Eren away.

“Yes, but I promise it’s for your benefit and I’m not ready to talk about it.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s my biggest weakness and I don’t want you to think I’m a freak,” Levi whispered.

Eren looked at him with wide eyes.

“I won’t think you’re a freak.”

“Please, Eren.”

“Okay,” Eren held his hands out in a defensive position. “Will you at least tell me that you’re alright?”

“I’m okay. You should see the other guy,” Levi said with a smirk. Eren sighed and shook his head.

“Did you start it?”

Levi thought back to the fight and remembered Reiner swung first.

“No,” he answered honestly. Eren smiled in relief and pushed Levi back toward the bedroom with a laugh.

\---

When Monday rolled around, Eren found himself struggling to wake up. Today was the anniversary of his mother’s death. He found it nearly impossible to drag himself out of bed and was about to just fall back asleep when a light knock tapped on his door.

“Eren?”

The door creaked open to show Mikasa’s face poke through. She crept over to Eren’s bed and scooped him up in a crushing hug as both of them tried to fight back tears. Eren hard a sob escape from Mikasa and it broke through his walled off emotions and he ended up crying equally as hard as his sister.

“I miss her so much,” he choked out. He heard Armin fly down the hallway and jump on the siblings, engulfing them in as big of a hug as he could manage. Eren smiled weakly and ruffled Armin’s hair as Mikasa pulled away. She kissed them both on the forehead before walking out the kitchen. Armin turned to Eren with a worried look on his face.

“Do you want to skip class? I can get the notes for you.”

“I don’t care about notes, Armin, I just want to go to studio today. One day of missing World History won’t hurt.”

Armin nodded his head and ran out to the kitchen to scarf down some breakfast before class. Eren lay back down and tried to fall back asleep but he knew it wasn’t going to happen.  

“Armin!”

Armin’s head popped back into the room a minute later.

“Don’t sit next to Petra today.”

“Why not?”

“Well, it might be okay since I’m not there, but she hates me and Levi broke up with her so she’s probably really angry. There’s a bald guy named Connie and a girl named Sasha who will sit with you. They’re cool.”

“Okay,” Armin said hesitantly. He grabbed his bag and Eren heard him leave with Mikasa.

Eren dragged himself out of bed and into the shower, where he dawdled and stared at the tile for far too long as he thought about his mother and all the things she was missing out on. His fingers were pruned when he got out and he checked the time to see he had only twenty minutes left. After putting on clothes and choking down a small breakfast, he grabbed his backpack and headed toward Rose Studios. He was running a little behind but he couldn’t find it in himself to care, really.

When he got to the studio, he was about five minutes late. As he turned the corner to come into the room, he noticed Hanji stopped talking and was looking at him.

“Eren. You’re late.”

“Yeah, sorry,” he said unapologetically.

She frowned as he took his usual seat and slumped forward on his elbows. Jean shot him a sympathetic look and Eren had to bite the inside of his cheek to prevent more tears from spilling out. He didn’t hear a single word of Hanji’s lecture and didn’t even notice it was time to start painting until Annie nudged him in the side.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, just zoned out.”

“This isn’t really my business, but did something happen? Your sister was weird this morning, too.”

“You’re right, it isn’t really any of your business,” Eren said tautly. He saw Annie’s face scrunch up and she bristled.

“Well, excuse me for pretending to care about you when all I really wanted to know about was your sister. You didn’t have to be a jackass about it.”

She stomped over to collect supplies from the other side of the room and Eren watched with a look of disinterest. He should feel bad for being an asshole but the emotions just weren’t there. All he could think about was how much he missed his mom. He walked over and grabbed brown, taupe, peach, white and green paints and then settled back down. Honestly, he couldn’t even remember what today’s assignment was but he was going to paint a portrait of his mother and that was that.

He started off with her face by painting it in the center of the canvas. Her nose and mouth were next, followed by her pale, slender neck connected to narrow shoulders. Eren looped her brown hair over her shoulder in the low side-ponytail she always wore. He painted a white dress on her torso and stretched her arms out toward the front as though she were reaching for him. He could practically see her wiggling her fingers and laughing. His throat began to close up as he painted her eyes, which he had saved for last because he never felt like painting anymore after he finished them. They were a muted hazel shade with flecks of green and had to look alive with laughter in order for them to look right. He could feel tears burning in his eyes as he lightly brushed on his mother’s eyelashes. A quiet sob escaped as he finished and everyone looked over at him, much to his mortification. He jammed his fists in his eyes and tried to play it off as a cough, but tears rolled down his face when he did that, so he was clueless on how to proceed next. Hanji walked over and waved her hands to everyone to try and get them to start painting again. She bent down and looked at the painting before turning her eyes to Eren.

“Eren, dear, this wasn’t what we were doing for class.”

“I know,” he whispered. “You can give me a zero. I don’t care.”

Jean called for Hanji to come over and she reluctantly complied with a final glance thrown back at Eren. Eren hoped Jean would tell her why he was a mess, because Eren was in no condition to do it himself. He felt his phone vibrate and pulled it out.

>What’s wrong?

He looked over to Levi, whose eyebrows were furrowed and mouth turned down in a slight frown. Eren shook his head and put his phone back in his pocket. He stared down at the bottom edge of his painting and stayed that way for the rest of class. Hanji dismissed everyone and they all filed out except for Hanji and Levi. Eren got up and left his painting where it was before hurriedly rushing out of the room. Jean stood outside and gave him a worried look.

“I didn’t know it was still this hard.”

Eren gave him an incredulous look.

“When was the last time you lost someone you cared about? It’s not a walk in the fucking park, assho-“

Eren’s increasingly escalating voice was cut off by a hand to his mouth as he was dragged back into the classroom and manhandled into a nearby chair. Levi’s face whirled into his field of vision with a mix of concern and anger.

“What day is it?”

“What?”

“Why are you like this? You weren’t like this yesterday or the day before or any other day for the little time I’ve known you.”

Eren shrugged but Levi’s low growl pissed him off a little.

“My mom died three years ago today,” he snapped.

“Is that your mother in your painting?”

“Yes,” he answered thickly.

“You look just like her,” Levi whispered.

Eren’s breathing became shaky as he started to cry at that little comment. It was the best compliment he could’ve gotten. His mother was beautiful in his eyes and to be told he looked like her was truly complimentary. He leaned forward and put his forehead on Levi’s shoulder before bursting into tears. Clutching Levi’s shirt, Eren pulled him forward into a hug and Levi kissed him on the forehead. He heard Hanji squeal nearby but he was too upset to care. Levi’s breath ghosted across his ear and made him shudder.

“Why are you even here? Go home, Eren.”

“I’m going now, this is my last class.”

“I’ll take you home.”

Eren nodded and allowed Levi to hoist them both up. Levi dragged him along by the hands as Eren waved weakly to Hanji with his free one. She smiled sympathetically as they rushed out the door. Once outside, Levi pinned Eren against the outside wall and glared at him.

“Why did you even come to class?”

“What?”

“You shouldn’t have even showed up if you’re this upset.”

“I skipped my first class-“

“Why didn’t you skip this one, too?”

“I missed you,” it slipped out before Eren could cover it up and now he felt weird. He hadn’t known Levi that long and it felt a little strange to say these things to him, but it also felt right because it was the truth. He _did_ miss Levi yesterday when he had returned home and it was one of the reasons he had had trouble falling asleep.

Levi’s eyes softened and he looked away before stepping back and allowing Eren to move. He grabbed Eren’s hand and led them back toward Eren’s apartment. The walk there was silent except when Eren punctuated it with a sniffle, which prompted Levi to squeeze his hand. Once at Eren’s apartment, he dragged Levi back to his bedroom and threw off his coat before flopping down onto the bed. Levi sat on the edge, but Eren yanked him by the shirt and forced him to lie down. Eren laid his head down on Levi’s chest and finally let out the hard, chest-shaking cry he had wanted to do all morning. Levi ran his hands over Eren’s back and through his hair, murmuring soft comfort until Eren finally fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jean being a good friend is my favorite headcanon!
> 
> I follow my url and fic: Watercolor on Tumblr! Thank you for the support and love and AHHHH!


	16. A Punch to the Gut (or Jaw)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the angst, and I'm only a little sorry. Enjoy Hanji being an avid Ereri shipper. Also, Levi sounds like a rabid animal in this.

The next two weeks were the best weeks that Eren could remember. Reiner had mysteriously disappeared from his life and Eren was spending a great deal of his time with Levi. He did find it a little strange that every couple days Levi would say he had somewhere to be and would pointedly make sure Eren couldn’t go. Eren tried not to be suspicious and trust Levi, but curiosity was threatening to get the better of him. Tonight was one of those nights as Levi shuffled Eren toward the front door and promised they could hang out the next day.

“But why won’t you tell me where you’re going?”

“It’s not a big deal, Eren. I’m serious, you’re worrying over nothing.”

“That sounds weird, Levi.”

Levi stretched up and kissed Eren on the nose.

“It’s just a stupid thing for one of my classes. I have to meet up with my group for something.”

“Okay, so why couldn’t you have just told me that?”

“Because it’s a bunch of enormous beefcakes and I didn’t want you to feel insecure and jealous,” Levi said with a smirk.

Eren threw back his head and laughed loudly at how ridiculous Levi sounded saying the word ‘beefcakes.’ He pressed his lips to Levi’s forehead and giggled again before he heard Hanji’s door opening.

“Are you guys going to stand there all day or are you going to make out?”

“Could you be any creepier, Hanji?” Levi asked with a look of disgust.

“Well, you two are my favorite couple on the block, so I expect to be indulged a little. I had a personal hand in your getting together-“

“On that note, we’re leaving. Come on, Eren,” Levi put his hand on the small of Eren’s back and gently shoved him toward the car.

“Wait! I want to hang out with Eren!”

Eren turned around and looked at her quizzically. She grinned brightly and ran over to tug on his arm.

“We’ll have a lot of fun! I’ll take him home when we’re finished, I promise!”

Levi looked at Eren who shrugged noncommittally. He took a step closer to Hanji and Levi sighed before kissing him lightly and walking off toward campus.

“Don’t freak him out, Hanji,” he warned.

“Bye bye!” she screamed as she waved frantically. Eren gave a weak wave of his own before Hanji whisked him into her side of the house. The door slammed shut and she whirled him around to face her.

“Eren, sit down.”

He obeyed and suddenly felt nervous. Hanji’s demeanor had changed drastically in the last few seconds and he wasn’t sure what was going on. She pulled out her cell phone and hurriedly dialed a number. Eren could hear Erwin’s voice over the phone, and she told him that Eren was here and that he should head over ASAP. After ending the call, she walked to the kitchen and grabbed two sodas out of the fridge.

“Eren, are you hungry?”

“Um, no. What’s going on, Hanji?”

“I think we should wait until Erwin gets here, he’s much more informed than I am. We’re just worried about Levi, and you might be able to help us out.”

Eren nodded confusedly and opened the soda. He took a few swigs and dodged Hanji’s questions about his sex life with Levi with a profound sense of mortification. Yes, they had fooled around and done just about everything there was to do, but they hadn’t had sex. Eren felt like his first time with Reiner as a drunken teenager was so unromantic and embarrassing and he wanted this first time to be perfect. Levi had rolled his eyes at that explanation, but had followed Eren’s wishes compliantly.

His musings were cut short by a firm knock followed by Hanji dashing over to fling the door open. Erwin patted her on the head and made his way into the living room. Both he and Hanji sat on the couch opposite Eren and Erwin smiled gently at him.

“I bet you’re a little confused, Eren.”

“Uh, you could say that.”

“Levi has been going places and not really telling you where, right?”

Eren nodded.

“I’m not sure how to say this with any sort of preamble, so I won’t. Levi goes and participates in illegal fights down on The Row. He fights, wins, and gets an exorbitant amount of money every time he goes down there.”

“He what? I mean I knew he was a good fighter, but I thought-“

“No, Eren, you don’t understand. Levi lives for fighting. He loves it. I know he saved you from your boyfriend a few weeks ago, but did you notice anything different about him during that time?”

“He was…excited, I guess. He wouldn’t let me come near him right afterward.”

Hanji and Erwin exchanged glances.

“He starts to lose it when he fights, psychologically speaking. I’m not sure of the scientific details because we’re all art majors, here, but you get the point. Anyway, it’s extremely dangerous for him to fight because he doesn’t know when or how to shut himself off once he gets going. Actually, the fact that he beat up your boyfriend-“

“Ex-boyfriend.”

“Sorry, ex-boyfriend and managed to mostly remain calm is impressive. That’s why we’re all really supportive of your relationship. You seem to be calming him down a lot, even though you’ve only been seeing each other for a few weeks.  You’re really helping him out.”

“Um, thanks. What exactly is The Row?”

“It’s a mix between a shady alleyway and…well actually that’s what it is. There’s a bunch of abandoned apartments where you can walk in and find people selling every drug imaginable. You can find every type of person imaginable, too. You know, for…favors. It also houses an illegal fighting ring where people go to watch guys duke it out, sometimes to the death. Somehow, no one ever gets in trouble and the higher-ups just cover it up. It’s not a good place.

“So, why are we all here?”

“Right. A while ago, Levi went down to The Row after nearly three years of avoiding the place. He went and the boss of the whole ring somehow managed to get him riled up enough to actually fight and now he’s fallen back into his old ways. It’s where he’s been going without telling anyone, but Hanji and I aren’t oblivious, and I’m sure you were a little curious, too.”

“Well, yeah I kind of assumed he was doing something really bad like dealing drugs or sleeping around.”

Hanji let out a peal of laughter and slapped her knee. “Can you imagine?! Levi sleeping with people for money!”

Erwin chuckled a little himself, and then turned back to Eren.

“Really though, Eren. This is a pretty serious thing. If the police ever get wind of what’s going on, everyone caught will be arrested and incarcerated. Levi, especially. He’s done some fairly severe damage to people. He’s there now, I’m sure. We need to go down there and get him.”

Eren swallowed and tried to process the things Erwin was telling him. He couldn’t imagine Levi hurting anyone for money. A flash of apprehension pooled in his stomach and a small part of his brain was firing off warning signals. He tried to quell the wave of nausea that suddenly hit when he realized that Levi was probably a violent person at heart and had simply chosen to hide that from Eren. Shaking his head to clear these thoughts, he stood up and looked at Erwin and Hanji.

“Let’s go down there then,” he tried not to let his voice tremble. Being in a place where people where beating the life out of each other was not something Eren wanted to do, especially when he had recently struggled to get out of a physical relationship. Hanji put her hand on Eren’s shoulder and smiled.

“Don’t worry, Eren. Nothing’s going to happen. We’ll just go down there and talk him out of it. We just needed you on board to tip the odds in our favor.”

They exited her house and piled into Erwin’s sleek black car. Eren fidgeted nervously in the back seat as he tried to come up with things to say. Hanji and Erwin were arguing which radio station to have on until Erwin finally just turned it off. The car ride was less than five minutes, and Eren found his nerves shooting through the roof when they pulled into the Three Sisters parking lot. They got out and Erwin walked over to talk to Erd, who nodded and clapped Erwin on the shoulder. Erwin motioned away from the bar and the three headed north. They turned on the next street and Eren found himself facing a familiar alleyway. He turned around and ran into Erwin.

“What’s the matter, Eren?”

“Levi told me to never go down here.”

“Did he? Well, you’re about to see why he said that.”

He gently turned Eren around and walked forward. They came to a heavy looking door that Erwin pushed open with ease. Hanji bounded through and headed down the dark hallway to the only other door. She rapped her knuckles against it and stood back. The door swung open and a huge man stood in the frame. He glared down at them until he saw Hanji and then a grin spread across his face.

“My favorite girl!”

She flew up and hugged him and then gestured for Eren to come closer. The man waved to Erwin and looked questioningly at Eren.

“He’s in the middle of fighting,” the man’s voice said quietly.

Erwin sighed and dragged Eren through the door. Eren was not even a little prepared for the noise level that screamed across his ears. Hundreds of people crowded around the ring and shouted at the fighters, and he was momentarily in awe at how this place could not be heard from the outside. Erwin shoved through the throngs of people and Hanji followed, her hand tight around Eren’s wrist. They made their way to the front and he was shocked to see two people beating the hell out of each other. Blood was sprayed over the floor of the ring, and Eren could tell it fresh since it hadn’t had time to coagulate. He recognized Levi by his size and almost screamed when he saw a slash of red running from Levi’s nose. Eren was fearful and angry at the sight and turned to Erwin with a look of concern.

“What the hell do we do?” his voice was nearly hysterical.

Levi threw a punch that was so hard that his opponent stumbled to the floor. An animalistic growl ripped from his throat and he stalked forward. He swung his leg and connected his foot with the side of the other man’s head. His opponent flew backward and landed flat on the floor. The ref’s whistle pierced the air, but Levi didn’t hesitate to lunge forward again. Erwin turned to Eren and shouted that now was the time. He hurdled over the side of the ring and motioned for Eren to follow. Eren clambered awkwardly over the side and the sight of Levi’s face covered in blood made him lose rational thought as he dashed over to him. Eren made a move to grab Levi’s wrist as he heard Erwin shout a warning not to do that. His hand closed around Levi’s and he watched in horror as Levi’s head whipped around to glare at him with eyes that were clouded with bloodlust. Before Eren even knew what was happening, Levi’s fist swung up and connected to his jaw. Eren staggered backward and looked at Levi in utter disbelief. He heard Erwin curse behind him and run forward to pin Levi’s arms behind his back. The ref tapped Levi on the head and declared the fight as people screamed their praises, but all Eren could see was the regret that was beginning to show through on Levi’s face.

Eren stood at the edge of the ring and held his jaw in his hands as he felt the familiar throbbing begin. The bruise would be as bad as or worse than when Reiner had hit him, he was sure of it. Hurt and betrayal surged through his brain as he backed away from Levi. He heard Hanji softly talking as she helped him down out of the ring and began to lead him away. Eren felt a boulder-sized lump in his throat and tried to stop his mind from attempting to rationalize what had just happened. He had told himself that never again would he put himself in this situation, yet here he was clutching his jaw and wondering what the hell he’d done to deserve it. The happiness that he had felt had all been deceiving and covering up reality. Memories of the last few weeks dissolved away and all that remained was the ugly truth.

Levi had hit him.

He heard his name being shouted desperately, but all he wanted was for Hanji to lead him completely out of this place and back to the safety of the outside world. She barged through people who tried asking Eren what getting hit by Levi felt like, which he thought was beyond bizarre. The doorman helped shield people away from them when they reached the front door, and it took all of Eren’s strength and dignity not to sprint through the door the second he saw it. Hanji opened the door that led to the alleyway and then turned to Eren.

“Eren…”

“It’s okay. Is Erwin coming out? I’d like to go home.”

“Uh, I’m not sure. I can walk you home, though, if you’d like.”

Eren nodded and they began walking back toward campus. He took a few steps and heard the door behind them slam open and footsteps charging up behind him.

“Levi!” Erwin’s voice had lost the smooth quality it had in favor of a rough, angry tone. He ran forward and grabbed Levi’s arm and jerked him back away from Eren.

Eren turned around and looked at Levi.

“Eren,” Levi’s voice was shaking, but Eren couldn’t tell if it was from emotion or adrenaline.

“What could you even have to say to me after that?”

Somehow, Eren’s brain had completely passed up feeling sorry for himself and was now focused on directing every bit of emotion as anger toward Levi. He couldn’t even imagine what excuses Levi would dredge up, but he was ready for them. This relationship, like his previous one, was quickly falling into that loop of familiar routine that started out with a punch and ended with an apology.

“I…I’m sorry-“

“I’ve literally heard it all already. I’m starting to think I can’t be in a healthy relationship at all. Maybe there isn’t such a thing,” Eren mused.

“Eren…”

“No!” he shouted. “You’re just like Reiner and I don’t know why I ever thought you were any different. I don’t care if you try to tell me it was heat of the moment or that you didn’t realize what you were doing. You should have recognized that it was me! Getting hit is the one thing I can’t tolerate, the one thing you should’ve known never to do. You threw everything away for some money and a fucking adrenaline rush.”

“I-“

“Bye, Levi. I hope it was worth it.”

“It wasn’t!” he heard Levi shout as he turned to walk away. Eren heard Hanji behind him, but he turned around and put a hand up.

“I want to walk home alone. It’s fine.”

She looked at him with a hurt look, so he gave her a weak smile to let her know that he wasn’t mad at her. Hanji nodded and turned around to Levi, who was thrashing and trying to escape Erwin’s grasp. She smacked him on the head and started shouting, but Eren was too far away to hear the entirety of it. He turned the corner and pulled out his phone to call Mikasa.

“Eren?”

“Hey can you come get me?”

“What’s wrong? Aren’t you hanging out with Levi?”

“I’ll tell you when we get home. I’m at the Three Sisters.”

He hung up and sat on the curb across the street from the bar. Not allowing himself to wallow in self-pity and misery, he watched the various types of people entering and leaving the bar on a Saturday. About five minutes later, Mikasa and Armin pulled up in her small beat-up coupe. Eren opened the door and sat in the back, ignoring the concerned looks from his sister and best friend. Mikasa drove back home in silence and waited until they were safely in their apartment to talk.

“Eren?”

“He hit me.”

“What?” both Mikasa and Armin shouted.

“How could he?” his sister fumed.

“I think it was an accident but that doesn’t matter so I’m trying not to think about it that way.”

“Eren, I’m really proud of you for saying that,” Armin said gently after a minute or so.

“Yeah you always gave excuses for Reiner, but now you’re standing up for yourself.”

“It’s because this hurt a lot more,” Eren whispered.

“He punches stronger?”

“No,” Eren chuckled. “I trusted him to know to never hurt me, and I thought he fully understood that. I was under the impression that he cared about me. It hurts more because I actually invested myself in Levi, and I never really gave a shit about Reiner. I expected Reiner to do this kind of thing, but from Levi it just feels like the ultimate slap in the face.”

“No pun intended,” Armin quipped.

Eren laughed at that and ruffled Armin’s hair “Only a shota like you could get away with jokes about someone getting beat up.”

“Hey! I’m not a shota!”

“That’s right, I’m sorry. You’re _the_ shota.”

“Eren!”

Eren and Mikasa laughed as Armin’s face got red and he turned away embarrassedly. Mikasa stood up and began to make dinner as Eren picked up the Xbox controllers and tossed one to Armin. He heard his phone ringing, but exchanged a glance with Armin and chose to ignore it. Even though Eren felt pretty shitty about the whole ordeal, he really was proud of himself for reacting the way he did. He wished he could say the same for Levi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things will get better, I promise.  
> *rolls away*


	17. Believe But Don't Forgive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I spent decades trying to write this chapter. Imperativa beta'd it in two seconds like a BOSS.
> 
> Also, this has quite a few breaks in it and that gets annoying so I apologize.

_I am officially the biggest fuck-up on this planet. Every other asshole in the world is dwarfed by comparison. It’s like the last 21 years of my life have all led up to this one final act of complete and utter douchebaggery._

Levi kicked the door to his apartment open with a loud bang and stormed into the living room. Erwin and Hanji trailed behind him, but he whipped around and pointed to the door.

“Get the fuck out of my house,” he seethed.

“Levi, listen. We didn’t mean for that to-“

“You knew _exactly_ what was going to happen. You ruined the only thing I had going for me. I will never be forgiven for what just fucking happened.”

“Seriously, we didn’t know he was going to jump at you. The plan was for Erwin to grab you and hold you down while Eren tried to talk some sense into you. He needed to see how you get when you fight, but I never wanted him to see it firsthand like that. I figured he would be scared and wouldn’t want to go near you.”

“That is just such a load of shit; I can’t even believe it. Eren isn’t scared of anything. His boyfriend beat him up for two straight years and Eren _still_ fucking sassed him even as the dickhead was swinging at him. You two hatched this whole thing out for some unknown reason and now that it’s come to fruition you tell me that you didn’t mean for it to happen?”

“Levi-“

“Please get out of my house,” he wearily interrupted.

Hanji wrung her hands and looked worriedly at Levi. His face was contorted with anger, but she could see how hurt he was. Truly, neither she nor Erwin had foreseen him punching Eren in the jaw.

“Can I just ask how you even managed to do that?” Hanji mumbled.

“I didn’t even notice it was him until I pulled my hand away.”

He sagged onto the couch and held his head in his hands. His phone slid out of his pocket and he hurriedly dialed Eren’s number. It rang over and over before Eren’s cheery voicemail picked up. Levi growled and threw the phone at the wall, where it hit with a resounding crack.

“You two are assholes for bringing him in there when you know how I get.”

“Wait a minute,” Erwin snapped. “We may have made a mistake by bringing him there, but you cannot put all the blame on us. _You_ are the one that punched him in the face, not us. _You_ are the one who chose to fight and who decided that you’d put it over your relationship.”

“You could have tried talking to me first,” Levi snarled.

“You think I didn’t consider that? Do you know how many times I tried to talk to you when you first did this crap in high school? The only reason you even quit in the first place is because you thought you killed that one guy. You don’t listen to reason, at least not from me. Stop trying to blame Hanji and me for everything when this is your fault, Levi.”

“Get out of my house!” he screamed again, taking a step toward Erwin. They stared at each other in cold, silent fury. Finally, Erwin put his hand on Hanji’s shoulder and directed her toward the door. He slammed it shut and Levi stalked into the bathroom.

Turning up the shower as hot as he could manage, he stripped and stepped under the scalding water. He leaned his head against the wall and allowed the heat to help alleviate some of the tension from his muscles. The warmth must’ve dilated the blood vessels in his nose too quickly, because it began to bleed again. He cursed and beat his fist against the tile, wondering how he was ever going to fix the astronomical mess he’d created.

\---

The next morning he woke up to someone pounding on the door. He groggily stumbled from the bed and flung it open to reveal Mikasa looming on the other side. She gave him about a second to ready himself before she drew back and punched him the mouth. The force caused him to stagger back and he instinctively put his hand to his face and glared up at her.

“I deserved that,” he muttered.

“You deserve a thousand times more than that. In fact, you deserve Eren standing in my place and beating the life out of you, you piece of shit.”

“Is that all you have to say or do you want to come inside and wail on me some more?”

“Can you at least pretend to be a little remorseful for what you did to my brother? It was bad enough watching him try to act like he wasn’t hurt when he came home, but then I had to listen to him cry in bed when he thought Armin and I were asleep. You were supposed to protect him, not hurt him more.”

Levi looked away glumly and scratched the back of his neck. The thought of Eren crying because of what he did made him feel like the smallest piece of scum that ever existed. Mikasa’s glare bored into his head and he exhaled loudly.

“Does it even matter what I say at this point?”

“Well, I came over here for two things, and one of them I already did. The second is to make sure what you did was a complete fucking accident because if you did it on purpose so help me I’ll-“

“It was an accident. As I was doing it, I knew that I had fucked up beyond belief. I was in the middle of fighting and he got too close and I thought he was someone else. I thought he was Erwin.”

Mikasa looked confused and Levi ran through the whole story of The Row and why he was down there. He even went into a little detail about his behavior and state of mind when fighting.

“I can’t control it. It’s like something takes over my body until I feel satisfied that the threat is eliminated. I know that sounds like I’m nuts, but it’s the truth. When Eren grabbed my arm, I immediately thought that it was someone else who wanted to try and beat me. Or Erwin. When I realized it was Eren, I was already pulling my hand back. I tried to apologize but what can I even say that’ll make him believe me?”

Mikasa shrugged. “I don’t know. Reiner would say a whole lot of shit to Eren after he’d hurt him. I honestly have no idea what to tell you. I do know that if you somehow manage to get him to forgive you and you end up hurting him again, I’ll be back with a lot more than my fist.”

Levi nodded understandingly. “So you believe me at least, right?”

“You and I have a lot more in common than you think,” she said cryptically. “I don’t think Eren will be so understanding, but I’ll get him to at least hear you out. Don’t screw it up.”

 Mikasa turned around and headed back to her car that was haphazardly parked in Levi’s driveway. He shut the door with a heavy sigh and wondered how the hell he had won the confidence of Eren’s overprotective sister but not Eren himself. A distorted ring sounded from near the couch and Levi bent down to see the shattered remnants of his phone struggling to put a call through. He picked it up and touched where the answer button used to be, but it didn’t register the touch. The screen was completely black and Levi frantically poked at it in different places in an attempt to answer the call. He hoped simultaneously that it was and was not Eren.

It didn’t matter either way since he had absolutely no way to answer the call. He threw the phone at the wall again and cringed as a small black piece flew across the room.

“Fuck.”

\---

Monday rolled around and Eren found himself dreading studio. He trudged out to the kitchen and Mikasa threw him a withering look.

“Eren, you can’t mope all day. Why don’t you just skip studio?”

“It’ll be obvious why I’m skipping, Mikasa. And I can’t skip _every_ studio. I have to face him at some point,” he bit out while pouring out some cereal.

She shrugged and went back to frying eggs. Armin stumbled out half-asleep with a grin on his face as he stared down at his phone. Eren tried to ignore the flame of jealousy that shot up when he realized Armin was probably talking to Erwin. The desire for other people to be as unhappy as him was threatening to further ruin his already dismal mood. He shook his head and forced down the bowl of cereal without tasting a single bite of it.

They finished up breakfast and headed out toward campus. Mikasa parted ways to go to Biology, and Armin and Eren traipsed over to World History. Connie and Sasha were waiting for them near the middle of the auditorium and waved emphatically to get their attention.

“Hey guys, what’s going on? Oh, wow, Eren, that bruise is huge!”

“Yeah, yeah,” he laughed off. “Got in a fight and lost miserably.”

Connie gave him a sympathetic look and motioned for them to have a seat. Lecture started and Eren found himself threatening to drift off to sleep yet again in the midst of the professor’s droning voice. Armin’s elbow kept jamming into his ribs every time his head jerked down sleepily. After nearly an hour of struggling to maintain consciousness, Eren walked toward Rose Studios with a wave to Armin.

All bits of sleepiness flew away when Eren pulled open the front door and remembered that not only would he have to endure being in the same room with Levi for three hours, but Hanji as well. He gripped the handle harder and stared back toward the direction Armin went. Maybe Mikasa was right. Maybe he should skip, just for today.

“No,” he growled at himself. He had to face this now rather than later, and missing class would show that he was weak and would rather avoid conflict than deal with it.

“I can do this,” he breathed out. “If he gets mad, I can just beat him up or…or throw newspapers on the ground.”

The thought made him giggle and he put a hand to his mouth to cover up the huge smile he was failing to hide. He heard a throat clear behind him and Eren turned around to see Levi staring at him. His hand released the door in surprise and flinched when Levi’s hand shot out to grab the door before it slammed. Eren avoided Levi’s gaze and took a step back. A minute ago he had felt confident enough to laugh off his worries, but now that he was presented with them directly in his face, he was more insecure than ever.

“Can we talk later?” Levi said softly.

Eren didn’t trust his voice to not quiver when he spoke, so he just continued to stare down and to the left. He was biting his lip so hard that he was pretty sure the skin was about to give and his hands had involuntarily clenched into fists. He heard Levi sigh and motion for Eren to walk through first as he opened the door as wide as possible to avoid accidental contact. Eren nodded curtly and dashed through the opening and down the hall. He scurried into the room at the end and completely ignored Hanji greeting him with extra enthusiasm. She gave him a curious look and looked pointedly at Levi’s typical seat, which remained empty. Eren shrugged and Hanji began class with gusto. Eren found himself zoning out again and cursed internally when he flinched from the door opening quietly. Levi brushed past Hanji’s confused questions and slumped into his seat. A hint of cigarette smoke followed him, and Eren realized that he hadn't seen Levi smoke in the past couple of weeks. A flash of concern ripped through the forefront of Eren’s mind, but he shook it away when he remembered that he wasn’t supposed to care anymore. Hanji continued class and Eren went back to not listening for a while. His phone buzzed and he pulled it out to see that Levi’s number flashed on the screen.

>What are you doing later?

Eren carefully made sure his face showed no expression as he slid the phone back into his pocket without answering the text. He could feel Levi’s eyes boring into his face and Eren struggled not to give in and look over. His phone vibrated again and he frowned as he pulled it back out.

>Can’t you at least acknowledge me like a human being?

He mechanically turned his head to look at Levi and tried to get his eyes to look as dull as possible. Levi stared back at him and looked down at his phone like he was going to say something else when Hanji’s voice boomed louder than usual.

“So anyway, long story short, we’re pairing up today and painting an image that reminds us of the other person. Everyone can choose their partners, but Levi and Eren have to be together.”

Both of them looked over at her and glared with as much intensity as possible. Eren sighed and glanced over at Levi, whose face was actually pulled up into a snarl. Hanji refused to look at him and just explained to the class:

“Levi doesn’t really know anyone else besides Eren, so he probably wouldn’t paint anything of import.”

Everyone shrugged and began to mill around the room and paired up. Once they were finished, Hanji briefly explained that it could be anything. A portrait, an abstract, whatever created a connection to the person being painted. People began drawing and talking animatedly to each other, but Eren refused to budge from his seat. Annie had walked over to Bertholdt across the room, which left plenty of space for Levi to sit. He felt Levi slam his body down onto the stool and angrily rip objects out of his bag.

“I didn’t know she was going to do that or I would’ve stopped her,” he gritted out.

“It’s okay,” Eren replied quietly. He turned his canvas slightly away from Levi and looked at the few pots of paint that Levi had grabbed on the way over. An idea of what to paint had already sprung into his head; an idea he both wanted and did not want to do. Unfortunately, this was one of those things that no matter how hard you tried to forget it, you had to go through with it until you felt satisfied.

He began to paint without drawing first, because what was the point of drawing when it looked like an infant did it. He slowly outlined the fingers with a light peach color and figured out the general shape. Selecting a few colors to blend using the dry technique Hanji had mentioned a few weeks ago, he created a color that was eerily close to Levi’s skin. Filling in the body of the painting took time, so he hurriedly did that to allow time for it to dry before doing the shading. As he was waiting for that, he glanced over to see Levi tapping the wooden edge of his paintbrush lightly against his cheek. Eren whipped his head back to his painting and mentally yelled at himself to stop admiring the guy who recently punched him in the mouth.

Anger welled up at the memory and Eren used it to fuel his passion into the painting. After about ten minutes, most of it was half-dry, but Eren couldn’t wait for it to finish up. He swirled his brush around the darker peach and cream colors and shadowed the planes of the hand on the canvas. His brush raced through the red and tinted the tops and he added black underneath for contrast. Eren was so wrapped up in putting finishing touches that he almost didn’t realize that Hanji had told them to finish up and begin presenting what they painted and why.

Nerves shot through Eren and he suddenly wished he hadn’t painted what he had. He turned the canvas farther away from Levi and watched unseeingly what other people presented. His mouth had gone dry and he could feel his fingers twitching from anxiety. Adrenaline pumped freely through his system and Eren couldn’t decide if it was because he had to present in front of everyone or if it was because of what he had to present. He watched as Annie showed Bertholdt her beautiful tree that had a nest of birds on top and brilliant green leaves. Squirrels lively danced around the bottom and Eren noticed Bertholdt blushed deeply at the painting. He flipped his around and showed everyone a slinking brown puma prowling across the page with striking blue eyes. Bertholdt had even yellowed around the ears to account for Annie’s yellow hair. Eren swore he saw a ghost of a smile on Annie’s face before she lightly punched Bert in the arm.

The rest of the class went around and showed paintings with varying degrees of talent and skill. Jean had painted Marco as a baby-faced angel with his head turned up toward the top of the canvas. Marco grinned and turned his around to reveal a large brown wolf, which he explained was because Jean stuck with his group of friends and would do anything for them. Jean hid his face at that and the class laughed jovially at his embarrassment. Hanji turned expectantly toward Eren and Levi and Eren felt his heart drop to his feet.

Levi took initiative and huffed irritably before showing his canvas to the class. A large teal eye looked around the room at everyone from every angle. Tears welled up in the corner near the lacrimal duct, but Levi had painted the skin around it in a way that made it look wrinkled, like the nose was scrunched in anger. The eyebrow above the eye was sharply angled downward, adding to the angry feel of the eye. The color of the eye was what surprised Eren because he never knew that his eyes looked like that. He glanced over to Levi and bit his lip at the tenderness in Levi’s eyes. Eren knew Levi was trying to apologize a little with this painting, and it just made Eren feel worse for what he was about to show. Hanji smiled at them and encouraged Eren to show them his.

Eren was pretty sure his head was about to explode from the stress of showing his painting to everyone. He slowly scooted the easel around and held his breath as the canvas revealed itself to the class. Hanji gasped and Eren knew the reaction was going to be exactly what he feared. The huge gory fist he had drawn had blood dripping from the knuckles, which were torn and ragged around the edges. Scars were crisscrossed along the fingers and the joints were white from being clenched so hard. The shadows made the fist look dirty and the blood was painted a deeper crimson in places where it had seemingly dried. There was no background or anything to soften the fact that Eren had painted a bloody fist. He avoided Levi’s eyes and gulped as he felt Levi stare at him.

“Eren,” Levi’s voice sounded soft and sharp at the same time and Eren wasn’t sure how that was even possible. He scratched the back of his neck and looked back at his painting, continuing to avoid looking at Levi. He wanted to feel angry and retort like he normally would, but all he could do was feel guilty.

Hanji clapped her hands once and dismissed class. Levi shoved his things into his bag and flew out of the classroom before Eren could even say anything. Hanji looked at Eren and nodded her head toward the door. He groaned and packed his things before dodging people and dashing out the front door. Glancing around, he saw Levi walking briskly in the direction of his house, a trail of cigarette smoke following behind him. Eren sprinted across the campus quad and ran over to him. He put a hand on Levi’s shoulder to turn him around, but Levi dropped his shoulder and threw the cigarette to the ground.

“Is that all you think of me?”

“What?”

“Is that all you think of me?” Levi repeated evenly.

“I just…”

Eren found himself irrationally angry again. Why was Levi acting like Eren was the one who started this? How dare Levi make this seem like he was hurt when Eren was the one sporting an enormous fucking bruise?

“You know what; I don’t even know why you’re upset. You hurt me first, and all I’m doing is showing you how I feel about it. It isn’t fair for you to make me feel guilty like this,” Eren spat out.

“Goddammit Eren I have tried to apologize to you but you won’t even acknowledge my presence! You won’t even treat me like a human being!”

“That’s because the last time I saw you, you weren’t even acting like one!”

“I-“

“I feel like I don’t know anything about you! Erwin and Hanji told me this whole story about you fighting, and I _still_ feel like I don’t know everything. When I told Armin and Mikasa what had happened, Armin didn’t even seem surprised, which means Erwin probably told him. My best friend knows more about you than I do! I have told you everything, Levi. You know the darkest parts of my life and you helped me get out of them. Why wouldn’t you let me help you?”

“Because I didn’t want what happened to happen. Look at what I did when you did try.”

“That was my fault, I-“

“No!” Levi yelled, his eyes flashing angrily. “Do not fucking blame yourself for this. Absolutely none of this is your fault, and I will _not_ let you think otherwise. _I_ can’t control myself, _I’m_ the one that hurt you and it is _my_ fault for all of this. Quit taking responsibility for others’ mistakes just to make them feel like they aren’t pieces of shit.”

Levi inhaled heavily and turned around to walk off.

“You’re better off without me, anyway.”

Eren followed him, his emotions roiling and switching from fury to admiration and back without any sort of consistency. He debated tackling Levi to the ground, but figured that would get him nowhere. He settled with grabbing Levi’s arm and yanking him around.

“I didn’t mean to make you feel bad with that painting. I’m just angry and I hadn’t really vented it out and painting is the only thing that lets me do that.”

“It’s okay, Eren. Be angry, I’m expecting you to be. Even though it’s beyond this, I’m sorry. I just need you to know that I didn’t mean to hurt you. It’s okay if you can’t forgive me, but I need you to believe that it wasn’t on purpose.”

Eren took a shaky breath and looked back and forth between Levi’s eyes and the buildings behind him. He wanted so badly to just forgive Levi and forget about it, but his past with Reiner kept rearing its ugly head and reminding him that things would get worse if he did that. His mind was also confused because Levi kept insisting that it wasn’t Eren’s fault, but wasn’t everything always his fault? Didn’t he spend the last two years taking fault for everything in order to maintain the status quo? Taking fault was something he had come to do naturally, and to be asked not to do it was out of his realm of possibility. For once, someone was shouldering the blame and removing all sources of it from Eren, and he had absolutely no idea how to react to that.

He honestly did believe Levi hadn’t meant to do it, but he had also deluded himself into thinking Reiner hadn’t meant to do it either. These two people who were so different were put in similar situations, and Eren realized he only knew of one way to deal with it. Except, he’d kind of already broken that when he’d walked away from Levi at The Row without letting him explain. Maybe it was then that he should’ve recognized that things were changing for him, that _he_ was changing. This whole ordeal was on his terms now, and he realized in amazement and horror that he held the reins and was the ultimate factor in deciding what happened next.

With a hand to his chest he looked over at Levi and felt his heart skip a beat. He knew he was falling in love with Levi but at the same time was struggling to reconcile what had happened. He could feel the empty burn behind his eyes and the flutter of nerves running rampant through his system.

“I don’t know.”

Levi looked at him confused. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know what to think. I don’t know how to feel. This is all so different,” he muttered, mostly to himself. He frantically looked around and swallowed hard when his eyes finally met Levi’s.

“Eren?”

“I believe you,” Eren said firmly. He watched as the corners of Levi’s mouth lifted slightly and his eyes closed. Levi’s head tilted back and he let out a huff of relief.

“I’ll see you on Wednesday.” Levi began walking toward his house again when he heard Eren following him.

“Go home, Eren. I think you should think about things before you make any rash decisions.”

“But-“

“Call me when you’ve figured things out. I want you to really forgive me, not just sweep it under the rug like you normally would.”

Levi closed the few steps between them and reached onto his tiptoes to place a kiss on Eren’s forehead. He pulled back before Eren could move and walked off without another word. Eren didn’t follow, but instead stood there and watched him walk off and wondered when the hell he had started crying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *pats heads* Shh babies it's okay.


	18. Turn the Other Cheek

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so wow, I haven't updated in decades and I'm without excuses. It's embarrassing how long this took me to write vs. how short and dialogue-heavy it is. Anyway, I had most of the next chapter written and then realized it didn't flow with the previous chapter so I added this little nibblet in between for some structure and I apologize for no Levi in it. 
> 
> Also, since my laptop broke and I had to buy a new one without Office on it, I'm using Google docs and the format is weird so if it ends up weird in here, then I'm sorry!

“Eren, I sort of think you should forgive him.”

“I won’t! No matter how much I want to, I can’t. It’ll all repeat itself and I’ll spend years of my life censoring myself and monitoring my own words and actions. I can’t live like that anymore, Armin. I can’t,” Eren’s voice broke toward the end and he angrily shoved his fists into his eyes.

Mikasa patted his back and shot a look at Armin.

“Have you talked to him at all?”

Eren told them what had happened in studio, and the mixed feelings he had been having ever since.

“I swear, one minute I’m ready to beg for him to forget anything happened and we can pretend everything is how it was before, and the next minute I want to make out with someone in front of him and then punch him in the face for good measure.”

“Wow, Eren. You are an emotional disaster.”

“Armin, you are usually so helpful in times like these. What the hell is wrong with you?” Mikasa snapped.

He held up his hands defensively and tried a different approach.

“Maybe you just need time to rationally sort through all of this. It’s only been a couple days, Eren. No one is expecting you to make a decision right now. It’s too fresh and you’re still pretty worked up about it. Just let things settle down and decide if the relationship is worth trying to fix or if it’s better left alone.”

Eren nodded and sighed heavily. The last couple days had taken their toll and he found himself suddenly exhausted. He waved off his best friend and sister as he trudged back toward his room at the end of the hall. Flopping onto the bed, he found his eyes were already halfway closed and he drifted off.

 

\---

Eren woke up groggy and utterly unable to decide what day or time it was. He rolled over and glanced at his clock, noticing it was nearing four a.m. Twelve hours of sleep made him incredibly hungry, so he rolled out of bed and planted his feet on the floor; a move which almost made him tip over. After allowing his body to adjust to the position, he plodded out to the kitchen and poured a large bowl of cereal.

 

He wolfed that down as fast as possible and then began his weekend morning-- he never had enough time to do this during the week-- routine of taking a shower and sitting down to play a few rounds of video games. He looked at his face in the bathroom mirror and frowned at the darkening bruise on his jaw. It had swollen like a balloon the previous day, and it showed no signs of dwindling today, either. Eren shook his head and turned on the water. It wasn’t like bruises were a new occurrence to him, but the origin of them was exponentially more painful this time around. He dawdled under the scalding water and tried to wrap his head around what he wanted to do. Permanently ignoring Levi seemed to be the most pain-free road and was obviously the best choice. But something kept nagging at him, something that was telling him that it was different this time. This could get better and that he should give it a chance. On the other hand, his mind wanted him to remember the fear that was present in his relationships and how perfect it would be for him to eliminate romantic interaction from his life completely. Why try to fix something that will only break you?

“Goddammit why can’t I be normal? How the hell do people get through life and put their trust in people without a second thought?” he growled and squeezed his hand around the shampoo bottle until the top popped off and flew up into his chin. The pain made him calm down and continue his shower, albeit a little angrier.

Eren dried off and changed into fresh clothes once he was finished showering, and then sat down to enjoy a some rounds on his console. After destroying a few teams from halfway around the world, he looked at the time and rolled his eyes at the fact that it was only six. What was he even supposed to do for two hours? Armin usually didn’t wake up until around seven, but then he had to go through his usual routine, and the same was for Mikasa.

“Eren?”

Eren nearly rammed his head into the table lamp out of fright. He whipped around to see Armin’s face peering around the threshold to the hallway.

“Sorry I scared you. Are you alright? You slept a long time.”

“Yeah I’m okay. I think I’m going to walk to campus and get some coffee, I’m a little stir crazy.”

Armin nodded and turned around to the bathroom. Eren stood up and grabbed his wallet and keys before heading out into the cool morning. The sun was peeking over the clouds and cast everything under a dusky light. Eren snuggled into his jacket and quickened his steps toward the shop before the crisp air cooled him too much. The campus coffee shop was located almost centrally within the gated campus and it was fairly close to Eren’s first class with Armin. He shot Armin a text that said he’d meet him in the auditorium and then entered the little cafe. As it was only half past six, it was empty aside from the workers and harried student who was frantically typing at his laptop and chugging down the largest sized coffee Eren had ever seen.

He ordered a drink and sat down at a seat near the window, pulling out his phone and trying in vain to connect to the free wi-fi.

\---

After nearly two hours of intermittent online entertainment and staring at students as they walked to their first class, Eren found himself bouncing in his seat. Class was in thirty minutes, and he was anxious to something that didn’t involve looking at the same people for long periods of time. Well, honestly, his classes were kind of like that, but he at least needed a change of scenery.

Deciding that he might as well go to class sooner rather than later, he tossed his empty cup into the can and walked across the path to the auditorium. Only a few people were here this early, so Eren was free to lounge around in his seat. After a few moments, a bob of pale, red hair flashed in front of him, and he tensed when he realized it was Petra. She turned around and looked at him blankly before registering who he was. Then, oddly, her face brightened and she smiled at Eren before patting him on the shoulder.

“Good morning, Eren! Can we talk?”

He nodded dumbly and followed her to her seat. She sat down and whipped her head around, her eyes glancing at his bruised jaw before returning.

“Listen, I heard what happened with you and Levi-”

“What? How?”

“We have the same friends, silly. Anyway, I’m not here to be hostile or anything. I actually want to tell you that Levi never meant to hurt you. In the time we were together, Levi never laid a hand on me. Sure, he was miserable and I think he with me out of pity but regardless, he treated me extremely well. Of course, he never visited the Row while we were together, but he still wouldn’t hurt anyone he thinks is innocent. Levi may be an innately violent person, but he actually detests it. It’s probably why he initially felt connected to you, and then when we were at the bar and that guy showed up, he got pissed because you were an innocent person being beat up for no reason.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, Levi cared about you more after two days than he ever cared about me. He feels the need to protect you and keep you safe, and from what I’ve seen and heard, I think he really, truly cares about you. I don’t want you to feel pressure to forgive him or anything, Eren, but I do think you should mull it over, because Levi is destroying himself over betraying your trust.”

She finished with a smile as Armin appeared at the end of the row of seats. He looked between Eren and Petra and shrugged. Class went by without a hitch, and Eren soon found himself being dragged out of the auditorium and rehashing everything Petra said.

“I don’t know, Armin. Everyone keeps trying to tell me what a good guy Levi is, but he fucking hit me! Reiner hit me, too! They are literally the same person.”

Armin rolled hs eyes dramatically. “They are not and you know it, Eren.”

“I don’t see any difference.”

“The difference is that Levi isn’t breaking coddling you or trying to force you into forgiving him. He’s letting you make your own decision and he’ll respect whatever you decide to do, even if he doesn’t like it. I think you need to weigh your thoughts and decide what the hell you want to do and then do it without any regrets. I don’t want to influence you in making a choice you don’t want to make, but I think that if you forget Levi and decide to let him go, you’ll being throwing something really great away. I know he hurt you, Eren, but he loves you. Even if he doesn’t know it himself. Plus, I bet he’d let you punch him back to make it even.”

“Armin Arlert, did you just make a joke about domestic violence?!”

“God, Eren, no! I don’t want to see you hurt physically or emotionally. I’m not saying I condone you getting beat up, obviously, but I’m saying eliminating Levi from your life is going to hurt you just as badly. Now, can we go eat? I’m starving.”

Eren laughed and ruffled his best friend’s hair. “You simultaneously give me the best and worst advice ever, you know that? Let’s go eat, you insatiable garbage disposal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next one will be out sooner, I promise. Excuse this filler.
> 
> I don't condone abuse or domestic violence in ANY WAY, but this is a story and I don't know any other way around it.


	19. Blossoming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god. I don't know where the last two months have gone, but I can't believe it's been that long since I updated. I' out of excuses. This chapter was rewritten a million times, and I'm still not sure if I'm happy with it. This story has left me with writer's block at times, and then up writing for hours at others. 
> 
> Anyway, I think the flower thing might be a little cheesy, but I truly don't care because I like it. This chapter is unedited and while I'm going to reread it, let me know if there are things that don't make sense.

Eren went into studio the next day feeling ready to sit down with Levi afterward and talk things out. He had thought it through the night before and felt confident that he was making the right decision. Giving Levi another chance was what he wanted, and he told himself that had grown enough as a person to be able to quickly extricate himself if things went bad.

He found himself currently bouncing his leg up and down anxiously to try and dispel some of the nervousness and impatience he was feeling. The clock ticked closer and closer to the start of class, but Levi was no where to be found.

He’s just running late, he’ll be here any second, Eren thought.

The minute hand swung up to the twelve and Hanji began class with a loud clap of her hands. She started talking about some sort of painter that Eren was absolutely not interested in because where in the hell was Levi? He never missed this class, even though he seemed to hate it. Eren frantically looked around to see if he had simply missed Levi walking in, but as his eyes fell onto Levi’s usual station, he was disheartened to find it empty. Class dragged by, and Eren couldn’t find inspiration in anything. He grabbed a few skin tones, some darker browns, black and gray and set to work painting without a plan. A huge swath of pale cream and peach took up the lower quarter of the canvas. He defined hills and valleys with darker cream and light ivory, allowing time for it dry by moving on to the long extension that ran perpendicular to the larger block and then cut back sharply halfway. A smaller piece rose up from the top of the main piece, and Eren began shaping a circle above that. He continued defining the parts of what would be the biceps and triceps on the arm and ended that by separating the fingers and adding the bend of joints. He curled the hand back around the neck and began adding shape to the face that was tilted back. A few broad strokes of dark brown covered the head and Eren stuck in a few lowlights in black.

Eren carefully painted in the pale pink lips, high cheekbones, and pointed chin before dabbing on the steely irises. He soon regretted not painting the eyes last, because they seemed to stare at him in a sorrowful, critical way. A few splashes of color behind the main image helped make it pop, and Eren finished up the details with just a few minutes to spare. Hanji began making rounds and assessing everyone’s work for the day. When she made it over to Eren’s station, she tried to hide her poorly suppressed squeal with a cough.

“That’s beautiful, Eren. You made him look like he actually has feelings and emotions,” she joked with a light slap on the back. Eren let out a soft chuckle, but couldn’t quell the hard knot in his stomach.

“Can I show it to him later, after you leave?” She asked.

“What? No, Hanji, I’m kind of embarrassed I even painted this. Don’t go parading it around, I don’t even want the other people in this class to see it,” he hissed quietly. She nodded like she understood, but the devious smile playing across her face told Eren that she planned on doing whatever the hell she wanted. Asking for his permission was simply a formality that she never planned on following in the first place. He sighed heavily and packed his things, still wondering why Levi hadn’t showed.  

 

\---

 

Two days later, Eren angrily tried to tamp down his feeling of anticipation as he waited for Levi to come strolling into class. He shouldn’t care if Levi came to class or not, and he definitely should not be worried that Hanji’s standing up to start class and Levi’s seat is conspicuously empty. His foot danced back and forth as his eyes stayed glued to the door. A fog settled over his mind as he raced from thought to thought. What if Levi was hurt or sick? What if he dropped out and Eren just didn’t know? Hanji did seem a little concerned as she kept glancing at Levi’s seat, so she must not have known what was going on, either. Eren’s eyes narrowed on the door and he tried not to get pissed off. Was Levi avoiding him? They were both adults and Eren had showed up, so why the hell couldn’t Levi?

Eren ducked his head down and ran a hand over his face. How had he gotten so wrapped up in Levi in such a short amount of time? Didn’t normal college kids have flings and just let the person go once it had run its course? Well, Eren guessed he hadn’t really ever had a normal relationship, so how did he know what he was supposed to do?

As Eren zoned out and tried to compartmentalize the Levi-centric part of his brain to deal with later, the door slid open with a quiet scrape and Levi slunk into the room. Eren snapped his head up and cursed inwardly at the bright flash of excitement that surged in his chest. He tried to force his eyes to look anywhere but at Levi, but the lightning-speed flick of Levi’s eyes meeting his and then looking away made sure that Eren wouldn’t be able to look anywhere else. Eren felt his throat clench and he wished that he could dig inside Levi’s head, figure out what the hell his problem was, and fix it.

First glance at Levi showed that something was weighing heavily on him. His clothes were wrinkled and the edge of one sleeve was flipped inside out. The black backpack he always wore was hanging half open off of one shoulder, and Eren could see the thin edge of hand wrap poking through the top. Both of these unkempt behaviors were not normal for someone meticulous like Levi. Eren frowned and glanced up to Levi’s face. The same apathetic look Levi had around strangers was settled on his face. At least, the part Eren could see. He noticed Levi was making a point of keeping his face straight ahead. Levi looked over to Hanji and scoffed when she smiled brightly and waved him over to his seat. He purposefully avoided Eren’s gaze and rushed over to his usual spot, making sure the right side of his face stayed toward Hanji. She did a double take and Eren watched as her shoulders sagged slightly. He could tell she was about to say something, but Levi cut her off with a gravelly “no.” He slunk over to his stool and hid behind the large canvas they had set out for today’s session.

Hanji resumed her discussion and the students began finishing their works from the previous class. Eren found himself frequently looking over at Levi’s station and holding his breath when Levi’s elbow or sinewy forearm would peek past the canvas.

I’m like a delusional schoolgirl, Eren thought with disgust and awe at himself. He sighed audibly and leaned back on the stool, knowing that he was never going to be able to concentrate. His eyes strained with the want to glance over again and again at Levi, but he forced them upward to the ceiling instead.  He glanced down at his blank canvas and tried in vain to come up with something to paint. Nothing seemed fitting, except for a large black hole that would be able to suck him out of this room and into another dimension. Hanji probably wouldn’t be too happy about that, though, and he wasn’t in the mood to fail. Already he’d deviated from the assignments the last couple of classes, so he really needed to try and stay on the task at hand this time around.

Today’s goal was to paint flowers that could portray a variety of emotions and convey a message. Eren had absolutely no idea what flowers stood for aside from roses, which he assumed everybody knew. Hanji had supplied a list of some generic ones for people to choose from, but a few of the people in his class were talking animatedly about what flowers they would use and their various meanings. Eren meandered over to a girl named Mina who had pulled out a book and was pointing to some pictures and looking excitedly over to Jean and Marco.

“Hey Mina, could I borrow that book once you’re finished with it?”

“Oh, sure, Eren! Here take it, I already know everything in here anyways,” she flushed after she spoke, like she hadn’t meant to let that piece of information slip. He grinned thankfully at her and walked back to his station., flipping the book open as he went.

Who even assigned these meanings to these flowers? He thought. Jasmine for sweet love, maybe I’ll use that. Wow could I be anymore pathetic? Willow, chamomile, those look easy to paint. I’ll put a rose, too, since Mom used to like those.

With the flowers he wanted to use pinned down, Eren started envisioning the placement and grabbed a brush. He began with the jasmine flowers in the front and lower corners. They dominated the bottom with round, white petals and tiny sweeps of yellow in the center of some. The willow flowers snuck their way behind like tiny caterpillars, the miniscule branches catching the light and flashing pale. The chamomile flowers danced above; their white petals flowing in an imaginary breeze and large, yellow centers bright to the eye. Eren finished his flowery painting with a single yellow rose tipped in red. He cleaned up some of the edges and filled out some color in the sky and in between the flowers. A few strokes of light and shadow defined the painting, and he straightened up with satisfaction that this painting was just how he wanted it.

A glance over at Levi showed him leaning back in concentration, showing the side of his face he had been hiding earlier. A huge purple mark swelled out from underneath his eye, a flash of red running above it. The lids were slightly swollen, as if it had already been a few days, and Eren had to suppress a growl at the anger that flashed up within. Before Levi could look over, Hanji clapped and walked straight over to Eren.

“So, what’d ya paint?”

She looked at the flowers he had and then grinned wickedly.

“Jasmine for sweet love, chamomile for patience, willow for sadness, and a yellow rose with red tips for falling in lo-”

Eren clamped a hand over her mouth and widened his eyes dramatically. He tried to discreetly see if anyone had heard, but most of the other students were finishing up their paintings and were oblivious to their surroundings. He let go and shot Hanji a reproachful look before taking his painting over to the drying rack. A flash of dark dashed past and Levi was out the door before Eren could even realize that he had run over and practically thrown his painting onto the rack as he bolted out of the room. Hanji ran up behind him and clapped her hands enthusiastically when she saw Levi’s painting.

A large fern dominated the picture, with little blue forget-me-nots dotting around it. Liatris blooms shot up from behind the fern in a hazy cloud of purple. He had painted it to look like evening, and the shadows cast by the plants were long and dark. Hanji smiled sadly and turned to Eren.

“A fern means sincerity. He wanted you to know that he’s sincere about being sorry, which is what the liatris means, and forget-me-nots have a deeper meaning that I think you should ask him about yourself.”

“Well, good luck on that,” Eren snapped halfheartedly. He was a little embarrassed about how his relationship with Levi kept playing out in front of Hanji, but she seemed willing to help. A hand on his shoulder caught his attention and he glanced over to see her serious expression.

“I’ll talk to him, Eren. But he isn’t too happy with me or Erwin at the moment.”

“Can’t imagine why,” Eren deadpanned.

Hanji let out a little laugh. “You’ve become more and more like him ever since you guys started hanging out. And he’s more open and emotional around you. You guys are good for each other so I want this to work out for both of you. The other night was a huge mistake, and I wish I could take it back and leave you out of it, but I can’t. I’m sorry Eren, I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

“It’s alright Hanji. I never would’ve found out if you guys hadn’t told me about everything. In a way, this is everybody’s fault, so now we just have to get over it and deal with it, which I’m trying to do, but he keeps avoiding me in any way possible.”

Hanji sighed and clapped him on the back. “Just give him some time. We’ll talk later, I have to finish up this class I almost forgot about.”

She turned around and addressed the remaining students. Eren picked up his bag and headed out into the hall, his phone buzzing with texts from Armin.

 

\---

“Do you see how much he loves you, Levi, or are you just too damn stubborn?”

“Piss off. I don’t want to talk about this.”

“Well too damn bad,” Erwin boomed. “We’re talking about it and you’ll deal with it. It already wasn’t fair to Eren that you punched him in the face, and now he’s trying to tell you that it’s okay and you just avoid him like it was his fault.”

“He feels guilty, Levi,” Hanji added quietly.

He cursed under his breath and ran a hand through his hair.

“Why in the hell would he feel guilty about this? I just want to let him go so he can get on with his life and be with someone who isn’t going to fuck him up. Someone better than me.”

“Well, he doesn’t want anyone better than you. He wants you. I don’t see why you can’t just realize you made a huge mistake and vow to never make another like it ever again. Eren is ready to forgive you, and you just keep running away like a child.”

“He doesn’t need me,” Levi replied quietly.

“Of course he doesn’t need you. He doesn’t need anybody. But that doesn’t mean he wants to be alone. He’s gone this far to try and show you how he feels, Levi,” Hanji pointed to the two paintings she had side by side. “Give him the chance to forgive you.”

Levi glanced over to the paintings Eren had done over the course of two classes. The portrait of him was extremely accurate and Levi wasn’t sure why Eren would spend hours painting something like that. The flower painting meant so much more to him, though. The sadness and patience really made Levi feel like crap, but the rose in the center hit home. The fact that Eren was practically showcasing his feelings was something that kind of scared Levi. Not too many people had told him that he was loved, so the thought of having a substantial relationship was new and intimidating. Of course, Levi had done a similar thing in his, but he had never expected the feelings to be reciprocated. Eren was so above him, so out of his realm of low-life living that Levi never thought it would work out. He wanted to spare Eren from the inevitable hurt Levi knew he would bring, but he had failed even in that.

Grabbing both paintings, he dashed out of the room as quickly as possible, the voices of both friends trailing behind him.


	20. Forgive and Forget

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angst, fluff, and smut all in one chapter. I almost titled it Forgive and Fornicate, but changed my mind last minute. Also, the smut is not up to par, so I apologize. I may end up editing it later, but I'll let you guys know if that ends up happening!

Weeks had passed as Eren found himself wondering when he had started feeling lonely. Levi was hardly even a presence in his life anymore, and Eren decided that he hated what had happened between them. Of course, they still saw each other in studio, but Levi was mostly unresponsive on the days he showed up. Often times, Eren would find himself glancing expectantly at the door well into Hanji’s lecture, just waiting for Levi to pop through. On the infrequent occasions that he would, his face would be purpled and dark and his knuckles torn and ragged. He wouldn’t spare a glance toward Eren, and would spend the remainder of class painting in a zombie-like state. Eren and Hanji would exchange worried looks, but Levi refused to speak to either one of them. At the end of class, Levi would bolt up and be out of the room before Eren had even processed what had happened.

“Hanji, I’m really worried,” Eren told her as class ended and the other students filed out. She rubbed her face tiredly and tried to soften the dejected expression it bore.

“I’m out of ideas, Eren. He won’t talk to me, or you, or even Erwin anymore, for that matter. It’s obvious he’s fighting, but he won’t answer my calls or open the door when I try to talk to him.”

“Dammit,” Eren growled. He was mostly frustrated that Levi had devolved into this lifeless shell of a fighting-machine and that there was nothing he could do about it. However, Eren was also a little pissed off that somehow the tables had turned on him.

In his mind’s theater, he had played out the weeks following what he dubbed “The Incident” as Levi trying to cutely win him back and show him how much he truly cared. Somewhere along the way, though, Levi had stopped smiling at him and Eren had been slowly forced to watch from a distance as Levi became more and more unfamiliar to him Now, Eren realized, he was going to be the one to have to try and make things work out, which he thought was complete bullshit. After waving to Hanji, he stomped out of Rose Studios and headed in the direction of the home she split with Levi. A million ways to angrily shake Levi out of this funk ran through Eren’s head and he could feel the adrenaline of confrontation course through him the closer he got to Levi’s door. By the time the house was in sight, Eren was practically panting from mental exertion. He stormed up the walkway and banged heavily on the door.

A few seconds passed. He knocked again. No lights were on and no TV flashed behind the curtains.

“He isn’t fucking home,” Eren breathed out incredulously. All of the vigor and anger he built up on the way over flew out of him in a rush and he slumped onto the porch in defeat. Head cradled in his hand, he pulled out his phone and decided to wait.

 

\---

 

About thirty minutes later, Eren heard footsteps coming up the walkway. He looked up from his phone and saw Hanji heading toward him.

“He’s not home?”

Eren shook his head and Hanji motioned for him wait inside.

“No, thanks. I need to physically block his way or else he won’t talk to me.”

Hanji chuckled and headed inside. She returned and handed Eren a can of pop and sat down next to him.

“Hanji?”

“Hm?”

“Why didn’t he tell me about his past at all? I honestly don’t know anything about him except what Erwin told me, and that wasn’t a whole lot. I mean, I just think it’s unfair that he saw the worst part of my life peeled apart and open for the world to see and I don’t know anything.”

“Levi is an extremely private person, as you might know. I’m not exactly excusing him for not telling you things, but I think he has a hard time opening up because he’s had to take care of himself for so long. He’s so determined to be self-sufficient and independent that I don’t even think it occurs to him to open up to people. I’m not sure it even crosses his mind to divulge information about himself because he doesn’t want to have to rely on anyone else who knows things about him that are weak.”

Eren gave her a confused look.

“I guess I worded that oddly. What I mean to say is, Levi doesn’t like people to know his weaknesses because then they can be used against him. So far in his life, he has allowed very few people access to his shortcomings, and this has led to him becoming sort of intimidating because no one really knows how to disarm him. Unlike you, for example. I know that you have a very short temper, so I can get you riled up easily and manipulate that in my favor should you be doing or saying something I don’t like.”

Eren flushed and looked away with a small pout. He hated being figured out so easily by someone so...clinical.

“But it is really hard to get Levi worked up. Really hard. Sure, he’ll threaten me in a deadpan tone, but I know that it’s just his way of communicating; there’s no real animosity behind it. Truly, the only person who can get under Levi’s skin is Nile Dawk. I’m not even entirely sure how that came to pass, but Nile can take a perfectly sane and rational Levi and turn him into someone who believes he needs to fight and do so above all else. I have a theory that Levi didn’t even enjoy the first few fights he won. I’m certain he only continued for the money, but Nile saw an opportunity to cash in on a kid with a fierce arm and he seized the chance. He probably convinced Levi over a period of time that Levi loved fighting, lived for it, even. Levi’s parents weren’t really around a lot because they had to work, and Levi probably saw Nile as an older brother figure. Nile fed him the lies about the fighting desire and the cravings he had for it until eventually Levi’s brain took over and it manifested physical symptoms by activating the sympathetic pathway.”

“What?”

“Oh! Um, you know how when you get scared, or angry and you get an adrenaline rush? It’s a different thing for Levi, but I think he still gets the tunnel vision, clouded judgement, and rash decision making that you or I would get. It’s just amplified and he becomes uncontrollable. Anywho, he doesn’t like to show that part of himself to many people because he considers it to be the weak, filthy side of him. Levi wants you to like him, Eren, so he never wanted you to see the part of him he thought you couldn’t love.”

“Well, it’s a little too late for that.”

“You mean you can’t feel the same way you did before because of how he is?”

“No, I just meant that if he never wanted me to see that, he should’ve never let it show. It’s too late for him to whine and cry about how he didn’t want me to know about that, or whatever. It’s time for him to face the facts and realize that although what happened was 100% his fault and no one else’s, it doesn’t mean I stopped caring about him.”

Hanji smiled. “He’s lucky to have someone like you, Eren. I don’t want you to rush into forgiving him, though.”

“Trust me, I actually forgave him a few weeks ago, but he’s been in this weird slump since then and I’m not sure how to approach it.”

“Well, I think you should start by-”

The sound of footsteps shuffling down the sidewalk was the only warning they got before Levi turned the corner, his nose dripping thick, viscous blood on occasion. Hanji stood straight up and bolted into her house before Eren could say a word. Levi glared at her and then turned his dull eyes on Eren before trying to rush past him. Eren let him get by, but grabbed his arm and spun Levi around quickly. He slammed Levi against the door and met his eyes straight on.

“Why are you acting like this?” Eren hissed.

Levi continued staring and said nothing.

“Dammit, Levi, answer me!”

“What do you want me to say?” he answered in a flat tone, his voice slightly nasally from the bleeding.

“Anything! I want you to realize that I forgave you weeks ago! I want you to say you’re sorry and then I can say it’s okay and then we can go eat pizza or watch a dumb horror movie or something!”

“We can’t.”

“Why the hell not? Goddamit you don’t get to be sad and mopey about this! You cannot sit here and act like you’re the victim, when the real victim doesn’t even give a shit about any of this! I thought it over and over and I forgive you, Levi. Wholeheartedly. I know you didn’t mean to hurt me, and I wish you wouldn’t let it hurt you, too.”

Levi’s eyes darted back and forth, focusing hard on Eren’s.

“Please,” Eren breathed. “I’m begging you.”

“Just let me go, Eren,” Levi whispered. “I don’t deserve you.”

Eren growled in frustration, his lip curling up with involuntary irritation. He twisted his hands harder into Levi’s shirt and yanked him forward,their lips meeting roughly. It was the angriest kiss Eren has ever had in his life. Blood still dripped from Levi’s nose, running a crooked path between their lips. The salty tang of it made Eren pull back and wipe both of their mouths. Levi barely got a second to draw in a breath before Eren shoved him up against the door again, his shoulders banging audibly on contact. Eren slid his tongue out to run along Levi’s bottom lip, causing the other to let out a soft moan. They eased up a little and Eren pulled away gently to rest his forehead against Levi’s.

“I love you.”

Levi inhaled sharply and turned his head away. A hand shot out and turned it back to face bright, questioning eyes.

“Fuck,” Levi groaned, closing his eyes.

“Can you just say it back so I’m not standing here vulnerable and laid out for the world to see?”

“I can’t. If I do, I’ll never be able to force myself to let you go.”

“Then don’t.”

Levi met Eren’s eyes and forced himself to make a decision. His mind insisted that all of Eren’s problems should have gone away once they stopped being around each other, once Levi wasn’t around to drop drama and stress at every turn. Instead, however, Eren stood here ready and willing to pick everything back up. On one hand, Levi knew he was no good for Eren and that theoretically, Eren should be exponentially happier without him. On the other hand, they were both obviously miserable, both emotionally drained from the fallout of a single incident. He was torn between what was right and what he wanted, and he honestly didn’t know which was which. His eyes inched up to meet Eren’s.

“I love you, too, dammit.”

The grin on Eren’s face solidified his decision.

Levi turned and fumbled with the keys until he managed to open the door. Eren practically shoved him into the living room and slammed the door.

“Go clean your nose,” Eren barked at him.

“When did you get so damn bossy?”

Eren laughed and dragged Levi into the bathroom. The bleed had mostly clotted off by now, but Levi’s face was an absolute mess. Levi drenched a rag and was about to wipe his mouth off when Eren snatched it. He rolled his eyes and turned around. Eren dabbed at his chin gently until it was free of blood. He leaned down and lightly kissed the freshly cleaned area. Next, he wiped around Levi’s nose, careful not to aggravate it and restart the bleeding. Once it was clean, he kissed the bridge and tip. Finally, he wiped around Levi’s lips and tossed the rag unceremoniously on the floor before cupping his hands into Levi’s jaw and softly kissing him. He melted into the kiss and barely noticed Levi nudging him out of the bathroom and across the hall into the bedroom. Eren felt his knees bump the bed and he reflexively sat down. Levi tapped his shoulder and motioned for him to move farther up onto the bed, straddling him once they were in a better position.

Levi slowly dragged off his shirt and reached down to help Eren do the same. He leaned down and flicked his tongue over each soft, pink nipple. His hand ghosted over the front of Eren’s pants and slid over to the button. Eren let out a groan as he reached up to do the same. Levi  pressed his lips against Eren’s as he deftly slid the zipper down and helped Eren shimmy out of his pants. He wrapped a hand around Eren’s hardened cock and slowly pumped. A hiss escaped Eren’s lips and he melted under the touch.

“God, I missed this. I missed the pretty little sounds you make and the way your eyes get all glassy. How your body responds to me. I missed you, Eren.” Levi’s eyes were soft and vulnerable, an apology for the past weeks.

“Quit being so sentimental and fuck me already,” Eren quipped. Levi let out a shout of laughter as he leaned over to the end table. The drawer was opened and he removed a bottle of slick lube. Pouring out some on his fingers, he ran them in between Eren’s cheeks before slowly sliding one finger in. Eren arched up and moaned lasciviously. After a moment or two, Levi added a second finger and tried to soften the discomfort by running kisses up and down Eren’s chest and stomach. As he split his fingers and pumped them in and out, he leaned down lower to take Eren into his mouth. Eren squirmed from the intensity of the various stimuli, and he splayed his legs wider to show his readiness. Levi slid out of his pants and boxers and repositioned himself in between Eren’s legs. He grabbed his swollen cock and rubbed the head around Eren’s entrance before slowly pushing in.

“Tell me if it hurts, I’m not sure how fast or slow to go,” Levi said, his voice laced with apprehension.

Eren smiled up at Levi and reached up a hand to touch his cheek. He rocked his hips a bit to show Levi that the pain was minimal, and set the pace slowly at first. Levi gradually sped up until he was grinding into Eren so hard that both of them were sliding up the bed. Eren panted as he tried to meet each thrust with one of his own and involuntarily rut upwards in attempt gain some friction. Levi moved them both up toward the headboard and sat Eren slightly more upright. It changed the angle, and Eren cried out as a ripple of sensation ripped through his body. Levi grabbed Eren’s neglected, dripping cock and gave it a few quick pumps. Eren shouted at that, and felt himself beginning to clench and tighten. His mouth opened without warning and began repeating and endless chant of Levi’s name. He reached around and ran his blunt nails across Levi’s back as the other drove into him. A low moan sounded from his mouth and it crescendoed into a weak shout as he spurted across both of their chests. Levi let his head roll back as he finished with a grunt and sigh of Eren’s name. He rolled back, pulling Eren on top of him so they were both laid out flat. Quiet pants filled the room as both tried to catch their breath.

Eren looked over to Levi and picked his mouth up into a half smile. Levi kissed Eren’s forehead.

“I’ll never hurt you again, Eren.”

“I know.”

**Author's Note:**

> P.S. my tumblr URL is jettplain, if you have any questions you want to ask me about anything!


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